


Matt and Emily and Ben

by Ellie226



Series: The Community [5]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Age Play, Daddy Kink, Discipline, F/F, F/M, Infantilism, M/M, Mommy Kink, References to Past Eating Disorders, Spanking, bottles, references to past abuse, references to past domestic violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-25
Updated: 2013-07-25
Packaged: 2017-12-21 07:47:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 35,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/897743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellie226/pseuds/Ellie226
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben is finally safe, but that doesn't mean everything is okay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Matt and Emily and Ben

Matt’s POV

The first night was like a sleepover, if everyone at the sleepover had just been through a major trauma. My big concern was getting both of them fed, medicated, and off to bed without any major issues. 

Sarah had prescriptions called for both of them, and she went and got them herself so that they could both sleep. It was helpful, especially after Emily had to go through getting her wounds cleaned and bandaged, and Ben had to be reexamined to make sure he hadn’t hurt himself. 

“I’ll come back tomorrow to get affidavits,” Charlotte said calmly. “We’re going to have David moved out in the next 12 hours.”

I’d left Sarah in the playroom with Emily and Ben, and I wanted to get back in, so I simply nodded, “Fine.”

“Matt,” Charlotte looked frazzled, and she paused before continuing, “I don’t see what I could have done differently, but I am so sorry that this happened. Once the dust settles, I’d really like for the board to meet and see what our options are to prevent anything like this from happening again, and I’m going to personally contact everyone I can think of to make sure that David is blackballed.”

“I appreciate that.”

I did. I was also terrified and full of adrenaline, not to mention horrified at my own capacity for violence. Although I imagined hurting people at times, I had never actually planned on assaulting David.

“I’ll let you guys get on with your day,” Charlotte told me. “Did you have plans for dinner? I could have Lucy bring something by.”

“I’m just going to order in,” I responded, trying to smile at her. “I don’t think I’m up to cooking anything, and honestly, I just want to get them comfortable and relaxed. The less fuss around the house, the better.”

“And Lucy would bring fuss,” Charlotte joked. “Alright. Call me tomorrow, when everyone’s ready, and I’ll come by.”

I nodded, and Charlotte left, taking Sarah with her. Going into the playroom, I sat down on the floor by the couch, smiling at Emily.

“Hey, baby. How’re you feeling?”

Emily grinned goofily, “Gooooooood. Aunt Sarah gave me a shot. It hurt, but she didn’t warn me, and now everything is happy, and I love you.”

“Aunt Sarah got you high,” I commented, smiling at Ben. He had tucked himself into the windowseat and was watching our interactions. “I should warn you: Em’s a lightweight, and we’re probably about 10 minutes from her singing.”

“It’ll be lovely.”

“It will be,” I agreed, brushing hair away from Emily’s eyes. “You have a beautiful voice.”

“I do. I really. Really. Do.”

I nodded, standing up. It had taken a while to get everything situated, and I was hungry for some dinner.

“How do you guys feel about pizza?” I asked.

Emily looked up at me, reaching out her hand to grab mine as she said, “I’ve had the kind of day that only boxed macaroni and cheese can fix, Daddy. So has Ben.”

“That stuff is awful for you,” I complained. 

Boxed macaroni and cheese was full of sodium, but for whatever reason, Emily suspended her anxiety about eating for it. Specifically, for Kraft, three cheese, shells. Made with unsalted butter. And woe betide the grown up who forgot the unsalted butter.

“I like mac’roni,” Ben whispered.

Looking at him, I smiled, “You do?”

He looked away, shrugging, “Pizza is good too. ‘m not so picky.”

“‘s’okay, Ben. Daddy’s going to make it. An’ I bet we get pudding for dessert. Choc’late though, Daddy. Not vanilla.”

“Yes, bossypants,” I told her. “Ben, is that okay with you?”

He was still avoiding eye contact, and he shrugged again, so I reminded, “I don’t speak shrug, sweetheart. I need you to use your words.”

“‘s’good.”

“Thank you, Ben. Do you want to stay in here with Em, or would you like to come to the kitchen?”

When I didn’t get a response, Emily sighed heavily, “You can say you don’t know; saying you don’t know is an answer too, Daddy, and maybe he doesn’t.”

“Alright, Em, but let Ben talk,” I gently reminded.

“I dunno.”

“You stay here, Ben. ‘m real tired, and I don’t want to move so much, but I can tell you ‘bout all our stuff in this room. I got lots of toys, and you can play with anything you want,” Emily explained, slowly pulling herself up into sitting position. “G’on Daddy. We’ll be fine; ‘m gonna take good care of Ben. Just like I told you.”

“You okay?” I asked Ben, wanting some sort of response to know that this was alright. We were going to have to work on making decisions, and part of that was Emily not picking for Ben. That could be a job for another night though.

He nodded, and I went into the kitchen. I could hear them as I began putting together the pudding and putting the water on to boil, and I had to smile. Em was an only child, but she should have been a big sister.

Emily’s POV

“G’on to the toy box first,” I ordered. Daddy would say I was bein’ a bossypants, but Ben wasn’t ready to tell us what he wanted. Daddy would have to let him go slow.

And Ben didn’t seem to mind. He walked over to the toybox, sinking to the floor beside it and then looking at me expectantly.

“‘m gonna get you one too,” I explained. “This one is mine, but you’ll need one for your toys.”

“Don’t got none.”

He was so quiet that I barely heard him, and I waved it off, “We’ll get ‘em from your house, Ben. Aunt Charlotte’s gonna make David leave, and then we can go get your stuff. Daddy’ll help, and so will everyone.”

“I don’t got toys. ‘cept Theodore, but I don’t know where Daddy hid him when I was bad.”

Ben was staring at the floor, face red, and I felt badly. Talking quickly, I said, “Then we’ll have to get you some. You like crayons? Or trains? What kinda stuff do you play?”

“I dunno. Daddy says toys is a waste of money, and-” he stopped, shrugging. “I dunno.”

“We’ll get you different stuff then,” I cooed, feeling badly. Life before Daddy hadn’t been great, but I’d always had pretty much whatever I wanted. Ben didn’t have anything, but I was going to make up for it. “I got lots of art stuff because Daddy says that’s good for expressing my feelings when I don’t wanna talk about them so much.”

“I like crayons,” Ben admitted shyly. “I like drawing stuff. I used to like art class.”

I grinned widely at that, “Forget the toy box. G’on over to the left closet.”

He did as I asked, standing in front of it and waiting, and I stifled a sigh, “Just open it up, Ben. ‘s’your house too now, so’s you can play with whatever you want. ‘cept no goin’ in Daddy’s study ‘cause that’s a rule. He’s got work stuff there, and it’s private with a capital P. Nobody ‘cept Daddy and sometimes Aunt Sarah go in there, ‘less’n Daddy is with you.”

“‘k,” he agreed, pulling open the closet door and going silent.

I smiled smugly, “See? I got way more than crayons. I got markers and paint and colored pencils and paper and paper and paper. Plus all my collage stuff and stickers and scissors and feathers and sculpy. That’s like clay, but we bake it in a reg’lar oven. And I got beads for makin’ jewelry.”

His hand slowly reached toward something, but he pulled it back at the last minute. I didn’t bother to stifle the sigh this time.

“Ben, is yours too now. Go ‘head. Touch whatever.”

Carefully, he reached up to pull down the crayon tower, staring at it. “You got the big one,” he murmured reverently. “I saw it on Am’zon, but Daddy said it was way too ‘spensive.”

I waved that off in irritation, “That’s just the one here. Daddy’s got a little art cupboard in his office, for when ‘m not so much s’posed to be away from him, and I got another one there. You can color, if’n you want. ‘m a little tired. If’n you want to look at more toys, that’s okay, but I think I wan’ close my eyes a little.”

Ben’s POV

With those words, Emily fell fast asleep. She had Delphinia with her, and she snuggled against the doll, her free hand going up to her face and covering it.

I turned back to look at the crayons. I couldn’t believe all of the colors! I’d really liked it when I saw it before, but Daddy didn’t think I needed anything that fancy.

Taking some paper, I laid down on my stomach and pulled the tower up. Grabbing a crayon, I set to work, losing myself in the simple activity. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed it. We had craft time at daycare, but I spent a lot of time in time out there.

“Ben,” I shook my head, startled, before looking up at Mr. Matt.

“Em said I could,” I defended myself, even as I carefully slotted the crayon away.

“You can, sweetheart,” Mr. Matt reassured me, sitting down on the floor. “I just wanted to know what you’d like to drink?”

I didn’t know, and I said, “Anything’s fine.”

“Come on, up,” he ordered, holding out his hands and tugging me to my feet. I thought that I was in trouble, but he led me to the refrigerator and stopped, opening the door. “We have orange juice, apple juice, water, milk, chocolate milk, or I can make hot cocoa. Em always says she needs hot cocoa after a rough day. What would you like?”

“I dunno?”

“That’s not an answer right now, sweetheart. I just want you to pick one thing tonight. So, what are you going to drink?”

I really didn’t know, and I brought a finger to my lips so I could chew on my cuticle. I wasn’t thinking; it just made me feel better.

Apparently, Mr. Matt didn’t like it. This was apparent when he grabbed my hand and pulled it away from my mouth, gently tapping the back of it.

“Don’t chew on yourself,” he admonished. “We don’t hurt ourselves when we’re anxious. We use our words.”

“Sorry,” I rushed. I had only been there a few hours, and I was already messing up.

He pulled me back against him, hugging me and resting his chin on the top of my head, “You don’t need to apologize, sweetheart. I was reminding you; you aren’t in trouble.”

I nodded, waiting, and he reminded, “You need to pick something to drink. Are you in the mood for a hot drink or a cold drink?”

They were mostly cold options, so maybe that’s what I was supposed to pick? “Cold?”

“Good boy,” he praised. “We’ve got that figured out. Do you feel like juice?”

“Maybe?”

“Alright, I just want you to pick between apple juice or orange juice. Can you pick one of those?”

He sounded so encouraging and patient, and I closed my eyes, blurting out, “Apple?” 

Matt’s POV

That made me grin. It still sounded like he was asking a question, but he’d made a choice. Hugging him, I let myself kiss the top of his head.

“I am very proud of you,” I announced. “I know that was hard, but it’s going to get easier.”

He shrugged, slipping away from me, “Can I go color?”

“Go ahead,” I told him. That was progress. That was actually a fair amount of progress. And although I wasn’t going to underestimate the impact of the narcotics he was on, I figured that was enough work for the night.

He silently went back to the playroom, and I returned to making dinner. I made the (chemical and sodium laden) macaroni and cheese and the pudding, but I also pulled out veggies and dip. They could deal with that. I’d yet to meet littles who disliked dip. Except for Michael, but he had that weird issue with food touching.

I figured that neither of them would be up to sitting at the dining room table, on hard wooden chairs, and I began ferrying food and drinks into the playroom. There was a low table in there; we usually used it for art, but it was a comfortable place to sit. I got everything set before gently shaking Em’s shoulder.

“Baby?” I kissed her. “Wake up, short stuff. Dinner’s ready. You want some mac and cheese?”

Pressing her face against the pillow, she shook her head, “Sleepin’ now. Go ‘way, Daddy.”

“Emily!” Ben’s voice was shocked. I hadn’t so much as looked at him yet, knowing that it took Em a minute to wake up, but when I glanced over, he was putting crayons away. “Don’t talk to grown ups that way,” he said. “You’re gon’ be in trouble.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” I soothed. “Em’s a grump when she first wakes up. She’ll be cranky for a minute, but she’s not in trouble.”

He looked away, muttering, “Not ‘posed to sass like that.”

“It’s not sassing,” I explained, patting Emily’s back. We’d been together for a long time, and I knew that she was awake enough to hear the conversation. I was hoping that she was also awake enough to remember that Ben didn’t understand our rules yet. 

“I’m ‘llowed to be cranky if’n ‘m just up,” Emily mumbled against the pillow, turning her head slightly to smile at Ben, “I don’t like wakin’ up. ‘s’like Daddy gets cranky if’n he’s watching a football game.”

“That’s right,” I agreed, nodding my head. “Everybody has stuff that puts them in a bad mood. I know better than to expect Em to be smiley when she’s first getting up, and Em usually entertains herself when I’m watching a game.”

Ben’s expression was unconvinced, and he looked away, focused wholly on putting the crayons away. 

“Understand?” Emily was sitting up, watching him closely. “We got different rules than you an’ David.”

“Your daddy ‘splained it.”

Deciding to change the subject, I helped Emily stand up and make her way over to the table, “Time to eat.”

Ben put the crayons away, before he joined us, and he wouldn’t make eye contact anymore. I’d pre-plated, not wanting to give Em or Ben anything to get worked up over, and we ate mostly in silence. 

Em was fading fast, her head nodding over dinner, and I was happy to get them both off to bed without any further awkward conversations. I knew that I’d need to come up with some sort of plan to address all of this stuff, but I decided that was a problem for another day. I could invite Sarah over for coffee sometime this week, and we’d figure it out together. She’d need to come back and see how everyone was healing anyway.

Ben’s POV

I’d been put to bed in the crib again. I didn’t like it, but I didn’t want to complain. It was still nicer than my crib at home. The sheets were really soft, and the blanket was warm. I liked the satin lining on the edge, and how fuzzy it was.

It was still a crib, but it was a nice crib. Matt had hooked the side up partway after he helped me into bed.

Leaning, he explained, “I don’t want you rolling out, sweetheart. The medication that Aunt Sarah gave you is going to make you sleep pretty hard. If you need anything, you just yell for me. Okay? I won’t be mad if you wake me up, and I expect you to call for me; no lying awake by yourself.”

“Yes sir,” I’d told him. 

“Good boy,” he praised, leaning over to kiss my forehead. “Do you like a nightlight? Em doesn’t like sleeping in the dark when she’s the only one there.”

Shyly, I nodded. Daddy said nightlights were for babies, but if Em’ly used one, then Mr. Matt prob’ly thought it was okay. It seemed like he did whatever made Em’ly happy, which made me question how effective he was as a daddy, but he gave really good cuddles...it was all very confusing.

“Don’t think so hard; you’re going to give yourself a headache,” he admonished lightly. He’d been rifling through a nearby drawer, and he had pulled out a weird light. It was all smushy, and it was shaped like a pink bug. “I know it’s kind of girly. We’ll need to do something about all of that. Do you want it right in the crib?”

“S’okay?”

“I wouldn’t offer if it wasn’t,” he explained, setting the light by my hip. “Alright, you’ve got your water, and I see that Em gave you back Delphinia for cuddles. There’s your light, and we’ve had a little chat. Am I forgetting anything?”

“I didn’t ask.”

He looked confused, asking, “What didn’t you ask, sweetheart?”

“Delphinia. She just gived her to me. For a little while, but not for forever. I’ll give her back,” I explained.

He smiled at that, smoothing my hair away from my forehead, “I know that. Em’s...she’s just like that. She wants to make other people happy, and she is really good at sharing. Kind of makes up for the early morning grouch routine, you know?”

I didn’t know, but I nodded. He continued, “We’ll get you some of your own stuff too, Ben. And anything you want from home; I can go and get it, or we can ask someone else to.”

“Thank you,” I told him. I didn’t want to get into my lack of stuff again; Emily had seemed so shocked by it.

“Do you need anything?”

“No thank you.”

“Such good manners,” he praised, giving me another kiss. “You shout if you need me, little boy. That’s a rule.”

“Yes s-” I stopped myself, “Yes Mr. Matt.”

“Good. Boy.” He said again, kissing my forehead with each word. “I really like how hard you’re trying. Tomorrow, when you get up, we can talk some more about how our house works, and we can figure out what we need to do to make you more comfortable.”

“‘m not so picky,” I mumbled, feeling very tired. “Thank you for letting me stay.”

“As long as you want,” he promised. Kissing me a final time before turning to leave. “Night night, sweetheart. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”

“‘k,” I mumbled. 

I meant to stay awake for a while, thinking. Even though Mr. Matt and Emily said I could stay as long as I wanted, I knew that I needed a plan. I had to figure some things out so I didn’t become a burden.

However, whatever Miss Sarah (Aunt Sarah?) had given me, my eyelids felt heavy, and I soon drifted off to sleep. If I dreamed at all, the medicine made me forget.

Emily’s POV

I struggled to stay awake as I listened to Daddy moving around the nursery. I’d been carried up to our room, and settled down with an admonishment to stay put while Daddy helped Ben to bed. There were things we needed to discuss though.

“And what are you doing still awake, Em?” Daddy asked, coming into our room. 

He walked over to the dresser, swiftly changing into a pair of pajama pants before clicking off the lamp and climbing into bed.

“Em?” he prodded.

I’d forgotten that he’d even asked me a question, and I could tell that I only had a few more minutes before I fell asleep again. 

“We need to shop for Ben,” I told him, sliding into my customary position on top of Matt. Looking into his eyes, I explained, “He don’t got no toys, Daddy, and he needs ‘em. And I don’t mind sharing, but I think he needs stuff too. And prob’ly more clothes, and that nursery is atrocious.”

“Atrocious?” he grinned, poking me a bit in the side.

“Atrocious,” I agreed, with a firm nod. “‘s’all pinks and flowers. You’d think that every little ever wanted a princess room. Just ‘cause they knew it was for a girl, they made it too prissy.”

He nodded, familiar with the complaint, commenting, “I know. You’d rather have a pirate room.”

“Uh huh,” I stated emphatically. “Or maybe a castle, but cool with dragons and stuff. If’n Ben is going to sleep in there, then it needs to be dec’rated better. Also, I don’t think he likes the crib, so that needs to go.”

Daddy shook his head at that, “The crib is going nowhere. For now, I want Ben at least a little contained. He’s probably going to be having nightmares, and I know that the medication is going to make him sleep heavier. Later, if he wants, we’ll put in another bed, but that crib needs to stay in the nursery.”

I pouted at that, but I hadn’t expected to win the fight. I hated the crib on principle. It was cage, and I was no damn monkey.

“Maybe a zoo?” I asked, the last thought having given me an idea.

Daddy sighed, pulling me into a kiss, “We will talk about it tomorrow, Emily Anne. We don’t want to overwhelm Ben, do we?”

It was a stupid rhetorical question, and I rolled my eyes, “We want to welcome Ben, Daddy. And so I think we should do some online shopping, then maybe we can surprise him.”

“We’ll see.”

We’ll see was grown-up-ese for “I hope you forget this,” and I simply smiled sweetly. I’d ended up with Ben today. I could work on everything else tomorrow. Besides, even if Daddy never seemed to remember this, I never forgot anything. Ben would be getting his cool nursery. 

Worst case scenario, I’d enlist Aunt Charlotte and Aunt Sarah. They were girls. They would appreciate my need to shop. 

Ben’s POV

I woke to something poking my cheek. Groggily, I opened my eyes and stared at Emily, who smiled happily.

“Get up! I want waffles, but Daddy said that I had to ask what you wanted,” she explained.

Mr. Matt came into the nursery then, sounding a little irritated, “And I also said that you needed to leave him be please, Emily Anne. I was coming in to get him up, and I know your wake up tactics.”

“I only do that with you,” Em defended.

“‘m okay,” I mumbled, rubbing my face. “Waffles is fine.”

“Yay!” Emily cheered. 

Mr. Matt lifted her off the side of the crib, nodding toward the door, “Go get everything ready please, baby. I’m going to help Ben up.” He waited until she was out of the room before he said, “I brought up the medication, but you can’t take it until you get something in your tummy. How’re you feeling?”

“Okay,” I mumbled, forcing myself to sit up with a wince.

“That good, hey?” He asked, helping me up and out of the crib. “Let’s get you fed so you can take some medicine. It’ll make you feel better.”

“‘k.”

I started to climb out of the crib, but Mr. Matt picked me up and settled me on his hip, “Let’s get you dosed up before you try walking, little man. Alright?”

Nodding, I allowed myself to rest my head against his shoulder, my thumb slipping up to my mouth. Mr. Matt was quiet the rest of the way down, helping me to the kitchen, where he sat me down in a comfortable chair.

“You wait here, and we’ll get some waffles ready. Do you like syrup or peanut butter?”

Emily was sitting on the counter, enthusiastically swinging her legs, and she scoffed, “You’re the only one who likes peanut butter on waffles, Daddy.”

“Am not,” Mr. Matt retorted, moving smoothly around the kitchen to prepare ingredients. I waited, expecting him to pull Emily from the counter. She needed to be hit. I didn’t think he would, but he had to at least send her to time out.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. They both just continued putting together breakfast, chatting back and forth. Matt would steal kisses occasionally, and they both tried to include Ben, but he mostly sat quietly.

“I was thinking we should just do the day at home,” Mr. Matt told us. “They cancelled my appointments at work for the rest of the week. I might need to go in on Saturday, and Aunt Sarah is going to bring by some paperwork for me that I’ve been putting off, but I figured that you two can either come with me and play in the playroom, or you can go hang out with Michael and Aunt Sarah. How does that sound?”

“Shouldn’t put stuff off,” Emily chastised. “When you do that, then we don’t get to have fun.”

“Emily!”

Mr. Matt smiled at me, “It’s okay, Ben. Em’s right; I have a bad habit of doing that, and it cuts into our time together, which isn’t fair.”

“Shouldn’t talk that way to grown ups,” I couldn’t help but argue.

“It’s ‘k, Ben. Daddy isn’t going to hit me,” Emily replied. 

I shook my head, “He should.”

“We don’t hit,” Mr. Matt explained. “I might spank Em’s bottom if she breaks our rules, but that’s it. And we have rules, but that doesn’t mean that Emily isn’t allowed to disagree or express an opinion. If I’m doing something that impacts the two of you, you’re both allowed to tell me that you don’t like it. When I procrastinate, it means that Emily doesn’t get to do fun stuff with me, and that’s not fair.”

“Shouldn’t sass,” I mumbled, looking down at my hands and picking at a cuticle.

“Please don’t do that,” Mr. Matt told me, coming around the counter to squat beside me. He took both of my hands, “One of our rules is about hurting ourselves. That means no picking at your cuticles too.”

I blushed, avoiding eye contact. How could he care about that when Emily was so bad? She was mouthing off, and he didn’t even seem to mind it, but I wasn’t allowed to hurt myself? 

“Ben, do you understand?”

I nodded, but Mr. Matt didn’t let go of my hands, “I need you to use your words for me, sweetheart, so I know that you understand what I just told you.”

“I un’erstand.”

“Thank you,” he replied, standing up. “It’s weird not knowing the rules, but we’re going to sit down and talk about it after I get some waffles into you. You never answered what you liked on them.”

He’d gone back around to the other side of the counter and was pouring waffle mix into the waffle maker.

“I dunno,” I whispered, when it became apparent that they were both waiting for me to give them an answer.

“How do you not know?” Emily asked, sounding perplexed. “It’s just waffles. What do you normally do?”

Emily’s POV

Daddy was shaking his head at me, but I continued, “I like syrup and butter. It’s bad for you, but that’s okay sometimes. And the waffles are whole wheat.”

“You can try them out different ways,” Daddy told Ben, tapping my knee and mouthing stop. I wasn’t sure why, but I listened.

“After breakfast,” Daddy narrated, putting waffles onto three plates. “We’re going to sit down and have a chat about house rules, and we’ll make a list of things you want from home. David is supposed to be gone already, and I’ll run and get them later today. And I think that I know two people who are going to need to nap this afternoon.”

“Well, I hope you both enjoy your naps thoroughly,” I replied. Daddy knew how I felt about naps. I’d gotten plenty of sleep yesterday and last night. Aunt Sarah had given me something, and it was much appreciated. Now that I was just sore though, I’d take some ibuprofen and that was it.

“Nice try, shorty,” Daddy told me, tweaking my nose. “Ben, would you like to try your waffles with butter and syrup?”

I twisted to look at my new Ben, who looked like a deer in the headlights. Taking pity, I explained, “That’s the best way. It’s really good.”

Before Daddy could remind me about not telling Ben what to do, Ben shook his head, “Yes please, but no butter.”

“Nice manners,” Daddy praised, cutting up the waffles and putting syrup on them. “Here you go, kiddo,” he set the plate on the table, going back for his own (peanut butter smeared) waffles. He didn’t let Ben get to the table before he picked him up. “I’m thinking your bottom doesn’t need to be on an unpadded chair. You can just sit on my lap, please.”

I joined them at the table, carrying my own plate along with a glass of orange juice. “Daddy,” I reprimanded, “You didn’t get Ben anything to drink!”

“Would you please?” he asked calmly, eating a bite of waffle.

I sighed, heading back to the refrigerator. I wasn’t really irritated. I liked being able to move around at mealtimes. That’s why we’d never used a high chair, and why my time out was a little more flexible than other people’s.

Not bothering to ask, I poured a sippy cup of orange juice and brought it back. Daddy was making Ben make too many choices, and that was overwhelming. 

Ben was obediently opening his mouth for bites of waffles, and I had to shove my fork in my own mouth to cover up a smile. He was so cute! I wasn’t ever going to let him go live anyplace else.

Daddy seemed to feel the same way, keeping his movements slow and gentle, with his voice quiet.

“After breakfast, can I use my laptop, please?” I asked, thinking.

“I thought we were going to talk about rules,” Daddy objected.

I shook my head, “You an’ Ben can. I know our rules already. You can have cuddles and rock, an’ I will entertain myself.”

“Is that alright, Ben?” Daddy asked him.

Ben nodded, avoiding eye contact, and I crammed more food in my mouth. I needed to finish so I could use my computer. Daddy wasn’t as bossy as some of the grown ups I knew, but my laptop was currently in custody, following an unfortunate incident involving me not so much sleeping at night.

“Slow down,” Matt admonished. “I don’t want you choking. You’ve got all morning to do our online shopping.”

“Maybe I just needa read the news?”

“Uh huh,” Daddy replied, continuing to feed Ben, “Credit cards are in the same place. Are you done?”

I took one more bite, bolting down my juice and standing up, “Yes. I can go now?”

“Plate in the dishwasher please, and I want you to fill your cup with some water.”

I nodded, doing as I was asked, then going back to the table, “‘m gon’ take a shower first? Okay?”

Daddy hadn’t wanted me to earlier, saying that he wanted to make sure that I was really awake and the medicine hadn’t made me loopy, but he nodded now, “Go on. Don’t leave a giant mess.”

I rolled my eyes at Ben before going up the stairs and to our bathroom. I normally lingered in the shower, loving everything about the design of the master bath, but I was in a hurry today.

I wanted to do all of my shopping before he checked on me. Otherwise, he might think I was overdoing it and overwhelming Ben. Which, I wasn’t. Ben didn’t have anything; he’d even said so. I needed to order books and toys and a toy box and a stuffed animal...after throwing on my yoga pants and some tank tops, I grabbed my laptop and settled down in the playroom. I had some serious shopping to do.

Matt’s POV

Ben was certainly a lot calmer than Em, who couldn’t sit through a meal without getting up at least twice. I alternated bites between the two of us, and Ben simply sat quietly, not complaining or doing much of anything.

“Would you like some more?” I asked, when Ben leaned back against me. He’d eaten about ⅔ of what I’d served him, but he was chewing more slowly now, and I didn’t want him to overeat because he didn’t know that he could say he was full.

“Wasteful,” Ben mumbled, and I realized that he sounded tired again.

I put down the fork, picking Ben up carefully and carrying him to the kitchen. Shaking out two pills from the bottle Sarah had left, I helped Ben to take the medicine.

“It’s wasteful whether you eat it when you’re not hungry or if you throw it away,” I explained. “Are you still hungry? We can eat more if you are.”

“No,” Ben admitted, snuggling against my shoulder. “We talk about rules now?”

“I think you need a little snooze.”

Ben didn’t argue with that, an unusual occurrence in our house, where it seemed like every minute of sleep was hotly debated, and I carried him up to nursery, sitting us both down in the rocking chair.

I rocked quietly for a while, watching as Ben slowly relaxed into me, finally slipping his thumb between his lips and sucking gently. He only seemed to do that if he was asleep or almost asleep, and so I carefully took him to the crib, tucking him in and giving him a quick kiss on the forehead.

“Sleep tight, sweetheart,” I murmured, before leaving the nursery. I made sure to leave the door mostly open, so I could hear Ben when he woke up. Then, I started down the stairs toward Em.

I found her in the playroom, curled up in the windowseat. She was feverishly working away on her laptop, and I stood for a moment watching her before I went to sit down.

“What’s the damage?” I asked, carefully lifting the laptop up and away from my wife’s lap.

Emily leaned into me, replying, “He said he doesn’t have any toys, so I had to buy stuff, Daddy. ‘s’okay though; it’s my money for shopping for the month.”

“No it’s not,” I told her firmly. I loved that Em was so generous, but I worried. Even though she’d never displayed any jealousy before, I knew that sharing me was going to be a whole new thing. I wanted to limit any potential resentment on her part. “You can still buy stuff for yourself. Will you tell me what you got him though?”

“Computer, please,” she demanded, holding out her hands and beginning to click through the history. “He likes art, but I thought the art closet is really just art stuff, so he can use whatever in there. An’ I got him something snuggly for sleeping, an’ some blocks, an’ bubbles. We’re all out, and everybody likes bubbles. And sidewalk chalk, ‘cause I don’t like that, but Lulu and Michael both do, and maybe Ben does too? He’s a good drawer.”

“He’s an excellent drawer.” I was surprised by how much she had restrained herself. I shouldn’t have been.

Going through more pages, she outlined everything else she’d gotten, and I wanted to give her a swat. I obviously couldn’t, not with what happened yesterday, and I had to settle for my mean daddy look.

“Emily Anne,” I reprimanded, “What did I tell you about overwhelming him? And I thought we agreed that we’d discuss the nursery later.”

She snuggled against me, completely ignoring my look and my tone, “We should probably call Frankie’s daddy about coming over to help? Or maybe he knows someone? I think the nursery should be a surprise. If he knows we’re redoing it, that’ll make him feel weird. We should just do it.”

“Emily.”

She shot me a look, “Nobody loved him before, Daddy. He needs extra special lots of love now so that he understands that’s how you’re s’posed to be treated.”

“And that’s stuff?”

“Course not. The stuff is just part of it. Also, there will be cuddles and baking and movie nights. I think we should watch a movie tonight? You think? Because movies are good for times when you need cuddles but you don’t so much want to ask.”

“Are you going to cuddle him?” I asked, surprised. Em wasn’t huge on snuggling, especially with people who weren’t me. Sometimes, she’d hug Lucy or Sarah, but that was pretty much it. 

“That’s my job,” she told me seriously. “‘m a big sister now.”

With logic like that, I couldn’t stay mad at her. Fixing her with a stern look, I said, “We’re not giving it to him all at once. That will overwhelm him. But if you want me to talk to Mr. Mac about getting some people here to redo the nursery, and you want to give him the new, stuffed....what the hell is that?”

“s’dragon, Daddy,” she said, sounding exasperated. “Because Ben was super brave when David was here. He was scared, but he went and got you to help me.”

“He was,” I agreed, kissing the top of her head. It was good that Emily was focusing on that part of it, and I was hopeful that Ben would be able to as well. Settling in comfortably, I asked, “How did you want to do the nursery?”

She was off, full of ideas, and I enjoyed my time with her. I was going to need to be careful that they both got one on one time. 

Ben’s POV

I woke up as the medication was wearing off, and it took me a minute to remember everything. Once I did, I thought about what Mr. Matt had said. I didn’t want to, but he’d been pretty adamant.

“I’m ‘wake,” I called, forcing myself to raise my voice. I didn’t want to tell him what to do, but I figured this way I was listening.

It didn’t take Mr. Matt long to get up the stairs, and Emily was chasing along behind him, “Hi, Ben!” she leaned against the crib rail. “You wan’ get up and play?”

I didn’t, not really. I was sore. Nonetheless, I nodded, avoiding eye contact. Mr. Matt made a noise, shooing Em out.

“Go on, please,” he ordered.

When he came back to the crib, I drew back against the side. I should have been more enthusiastic, and I was instantly apologizing, “Sorry sorry sorry.”

He didn’t say anything, drawing down the side rail and sitting on the nursery. I tensed when he grabbed me under the arms and pulled on me, but instead of being over his lap, I was sitting on it.

“You don’t need to apologize, Ben. You didn’t do anything wrong. You just looked overwhelmed, and I wanted to give you a few minutes to chill without Em. She’s really excited, but it’s okay if she’s being too pushy. You just need to let her know to calm down.”

“It’s okay,” I whispered.

“No, it’s not,” he corrected. “It’s not okay if you feel like you have to do something. This is your home now, even if you decide you only want to stay for a little bit, and you don’t have to put up with being forced to do stuff you don’t want.”

I thought about that for a minute, unable to not ask, “What ‘bout if you want me to do something?”

“How about we go and talk about the rules now?” he suggested. When I nodded, he asked, “Would you like to stay up here and rock, or should we go to my office?”

“Is here okay?” I asked shyly.

He nodded, smiling, “Absolutely. Let’s get us settled in here,” he told me, carrying me to the rocking chair and sitting.

“We don’t have a lot of rules,” he said, beginning to rock. “It’s mostly just that we don’t hurt ourselves or other people, we don’t lie, and you and Em listen to me. You’re allowed to complain or tell me if you don’t like something, but if I say, ‘Ben, put the toys away,’ I don’t want to have to tell you more than once or twice. If I ask you twice, I’ll warn you the second time that you’re working your way into a punishment. If I have to ask you a third time, then you’ll have to deal with some consequences.”

“Like what?”

“Different stuff. You might have to sit in the time out corner for a while, but it’s always less than half an hour. You might have to go to your room and think for a little while. You might get sent to bed early, or sometimes, I’ll take away a privilege like a toy or watching a movie. I’ll warn you though, with the second time I ask you to do something, what you’re looking at. Does all that stuff sound okay?”

I shrugged, asking, “You goin’ hit me?”

He smiled kindly, saying, “We don’t hit in this house. I might spank your bottom, but that’s it.” I didn’t respond to that, and he continued, “Do you want to hear how I would do that?”

I nodded, so he said, “It depends on what happened. Mostly, Em gets spankings on her bare bottom, and I use my hand or maybe a hairbrush or a wooden spoon. If you’re not comfortable with me spanking you, then we’ll stick to time out and removal of privileges. Or, if you’re okay with spankings, but you aren’t comfortable with me doing it without your underwear, then we can do it over them. How does that sound?”

It was a lot of information, and I shrugged, “Dunno.”

“Too much to think about right now?” he asked, and I nodded.

“Tell you what. How about we go downstairs and have some lunch, then we’ll play for a bit. Em said something about watching a movie tonight? Does that sound good?”

Before I could answer, my tummy growled, and Mr. Matt started to laugh, “Guess you’re ready for lunch.”

I giggled a little, especially when Mr. Matt poked at my tummy before standing up. “Let’s go eat, and then we’ll get you some more medicine for your sore bottom, sweetheart.”

Snuggling in, I allowed Mr. Matt to carry me downstairs. I was hungry, and it sounded like it was going to be a fun day. I didn’t even see how I could get into trouble with what he was suggesting.

Matt’s POV

The first day was a good preview of what was to come. Ben cowered. Emily defended. And I pushed. I didn’t want to do it, but I could see that Em was going to be a problem, and I felt like I needed to make my expectations clear.

“Please stop answering for Ben, Emily Anne,” I admonished when our movie was over. Em was refusing to nap, but I felt like they both needed to rest. We’d compromised by putting in a Disney movie. 

Emily had wanted Brave, and Ben hadn’t objected. After the film was over, I’d asked them what they wanted to do next.

“Play with blocks,” Emily had stated emphatically.

“Ben, is that alright?”

Emily had looked at Ben, but when he didn’t answer, she said, “Ben would like it too, Daddy. I’ll share.”

Ben hadn’t said anything, and I’d intervened, reminding her again to stop answering questions for him.

“‘m not. ‘m helpin’.”

“Emily,” I raised my eyebrows, giving her a look, and she folded her arms over her chest.

“Well, I was,” she muttered.

I sighed, shaking my head, “Enough please. Ben, how about I get you set up in the playroom? Em and I need to talk a bit.”

Ben tensed, and I gently stroked his back, “It’s okay, Ben. Em’s not in trouble.”

He didn’t respond to that, standing up and walking slowly to the playroom. I followed him, pointing at Em, “Stay there please.” She sat on the couch, and I went to the playroom. “Go ahead and play with whatever you want, sweetheart.”

He looked utterly lost, looking around the room, and I suggested, “Maybe draw me some more pictures? I loved the ones that you made yesterday.”

That got a small smile, and he went to the art closet, pulling out the container of crayons and a pad of paper. Settling again at the low table, Ben bent over the table and got to work.

“Good boy,” I praised him, smiling. He was so eager to please. It wouldn’t have made any sense to me if he’d been defiant and badly behaved, but the idea of David beating him when he was just so happy to make everyone else happy...I couldn’t understand it at all.

I watched for a minute before returning to the living room, where Emily had curled up on the couch, staring off into space.

“Em,” I interrupted her thoughts, sitting beside her. She flinched, but then allowed herself to lean into me.

“You’re pushing too much,” she said angrily.

I shook my head, “I’m encouraging him to answer questions. I know it’s overwhelming for him, but he needs to get used to the idea that it’s okay to talk to people.”

She vehemently shook her head at that, looking up to glare at me, “It’s too much. It hasn’t even been 24 hours yet. Give him a couple of days to settle in, Daddy.”

“Emily....”

“No,” she ordered, “you need to listen to me too. I know stuff. ‘m not dumb.”

“Hey,” I interrupted, grabbing her chin, “I don’t think you’re dumb. I know you’re smart, and I am listening to you. But I need you to take a few breaths here, baby girl. You’re getting yourself all worked up.”

“No I’m not,” she insisted, even as she twisted her hands together. I saw her glance down at them, and then force her hands into her lap. “I just want to make sure that Ben is comfortable. I’m being a good hostess.”

I shook my head, “You’re fixating and stressing yourself out.”

“Am not,” she protested, not sounding like she believed herself.

Giving into the impulse, I pulled her into my lap and hugged her, “I love you.”

“Love you too,” she mumbled automatically.

“And I care about Ben, but you’re my priority,” I continued quietly, knowing that she wasn’t going to like this conversation. “If having Ben here is too hard, then I’ll find him someplace else to stay.”

“No! I like Ben! I want him to stay!”

I tightened my hold on her, replying, “I like Ben too, Em, but you’re mine. You’re my girl, and I have to worry about you first.”

“I want to help him though,” she whispered, sounding close to tears.

“I want to help him too. Him not staying here doesn’t mean that we don’t help him. Maybe he goes to stay with Aunt Sarah or Aunt Charlotte. He can still come over and play, and we can still help.”

“I want him to stay,” she insisted.

I nodded, having expected that, “Then I need a promise from you, Em.” Waiting for a nod, I said, “You need to relax. Things aren’t going to be perfect. You need to stop trying to make them perfect. It’s going to be messy and hard and overwhelming, but Ben needs things to be like that so we can work. You know that, Em. I know that you do.”

She sniffled a little, finally allowing herself to relax against me. Curling against me, she whispered, “If’n ‘m relaxed, can we keep him?”

“He’s not a puppy, Emily Anne,” I admonished lightly. “Ben is welcome to stay here as long as he wants, so long as you don’t turn into a giant stressball on me. You need to tell me if you’re feeling sad or overwhelmed so that I can help.”

“I don’t want Ben thinkin’ that he’s givin’ me the sads,” she objected.

“We’ll work on that,” I promised, “but it’ll be good for Ben to see that you can express feelings, and that’s okay, that the world won’t end because you’re unhappy. Even if you’re unhappy with me or with him. People can get upset, and we work it out without anyone getting hurt.”

It was a little tricky, but I knew Emily. She’d be willing to try if she thought it would help Ben. In my defense, I genuinely believed that it would help Ben. It just so happened that it would help Em as well, which was my primary concern. 

“Promise,” she said quietly, sounding very certain. “Can we go play with Ben now?”

“Are you ready?”

She nodded, and I helped her stand up before following her to the playroom. Ben was still at the table, coloring a picture, and I nodded at Em.

“Go on. I think we should all do some art.”

Without complaint, Emily sat down beside Ben and took a sheet of paper. It wouldn’t have been her first choice for activities, but I figured that she could deal with that. Hopefully, she’d be able to get out some of her anxiety this way.

Emily’s POV

Coloring wasn’t ever my first choice. Daddy liked doing it, and I know that part of the reason he likes it is because it relaxes people and makes them talk. You don’t even think about it. It just happens.

Ben was too quiet for that though. He drew silently, appearing to ignore us both until Daddy’s cell phone rang.

“I’ve got to get this,” he explained, unfurling his long legs from under the table. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

I nodded absently, focusing on my picture. Ben reached over and tapped me, “Em’ly? Your daddy hit you?”

“When?” I asked, looking up. I knew what Daddy would say. He never hit me. Spanking wasn’t the same thing. I knew that Ben probably didn’t understand the distinction, and I didn’t feel like trying to explain it.

“In the living room? He was mad.”

Ben looked nervous, and I patted his hand gently, “No. Daddy’ll tell you if’n that’s goin’ to happen. He wanted to talk with me ‘cause he thought I was gettin’ too,” I flexed my fingers, trying to explain. “I get all coiled up, an’ I need help remembering to breathe and not be worried.”

“He’ll say?”

I nodded, explaining, “Daddy doesn’t like calling stuff anything that it isn’t. If’n ‘m goin’ to get spanked, he’ll say. If’n he says talk, then he just means talk. Sometimes, if’n I don’t wanna talk, and ‘m maybe not so polite about it, then I get a spankin’.”

“Really?” Ben looked genuinely confused by all of this, and I felt badly for him.

“Daddy doesn’t hurt me, Ben,” I said gently. “We don’t hurt people. ‘m not ‘llowed to hurt him, and ‘m not ‘llowed to hurt me, and nobody’s going to be ‘llowed to hurt you anymore. Daddy won’t let them.”

Ben nodded, looking down at his paper, and I sighed, “I promise, Ben. Daddy won’t let you get hurt again. He might spank your bottom if’n you’re naughty, but he almost never does that anyway. I gotta do somethin’ really naughty to get a spankin’. I don’t think you can be real naughty though, Ben.”

“‘m bad sometimes,” he mumbled.

“No,” I said firmly. This part I understood very well. Daddy did not like the word bad. He also didn’t like it when I said that I was dumb or ugly or anything else like that. “Sometimes, you have bad behavior, but is just the behavior. Daddy doesn’t like it when we’re mean. Not even to ourselves.”

“Okay,” he shrugged. 

I could tell he didn’t get it yet, but Daddy would definitely teach him. We’d had lots of talks about not saying mean stuff about me, and Daddy was good at it. If being good at something meant that you did it a million and seventeen times. 

Daddy came back in then, before I could warn Ben about having to talk about things. When Daddy said “talk,” he just meant talk.

There were days when I thought I’d prefer a spanking over having to discuss things one more time. There were good things about having a therapist for a husband; unlike my friends, I never felt like Matt wasn’t telling me what he was thinking. Some days though...Daddy said that’s why it worked, that if I liked having to talk about why I did something bad, then it wouldn’t be a punishment. 

It could be embarrassing at times, having to sit and work out what I’d been thinking, and why I’d done what I done. Sometimes, I didn’t want to think about it anymore, and I wanted to scream that I’d just felt like it. I’d have to take advantage of Daddy’s next absence and warn Ben that it wasn’t the best way to handle things. All it accomplished was a spanking before the talk, and despite what Daddy said, being sore did not help to focus me.

“Em?” Daddy touched my hair, interrupting my thoughts, and I smiled up at him, nuzzling against his palm. I didn’t like the long discussions about bad choices, but I loved him. “What’re you thinking about?”

“Stuff,” I shrugged. 

He didn’t pry, simply telling me, “Aunt Sarah’s going to stop by on her way home. She said she’s picking Michael up first, and I wanted to know if we could have them for dinner?”

I nodded. Michael was kind of a baby, but Aunt Sarah had been Daddy’s friend since before he’d met me, and I liked her. We sometimes went to do stuff together, shopping or getting manicures or pedicures. 

“Ben?” Daddy knelt down so he could make eye contact. “Is that alright? We need someone to look at where you got hurt, but I can tell Sarah that you don’t want Michael here, or I can take you to the doctor tomorrow.”

“s’okay,” Ben said quietly, appearing wholly focused on his picture. “You’ll stay?”

“If you want me to,” Daddy reassured. 

Ben nodded, visibly relaxing, and Daddy started talking about dinner. He hadn’t pulled anything out of the freezer, and I knew that we needed to go grocery shopping. We went back and forth about it for a moment. I didn’t want Daddy to have to go to the store because I figured he wouldn’t want to leave us both home alone.

“Can we have pizza?”

I stopped talking, looking at Ben. I think it was the first time he volunteered anything. Before I could say anything, Daddy said, “Of course we can. Do you like pizza?”

Ben nodded, face red, saying, “Uh huh. Daddy says it’ll make me fat, but I won’t eat too much.”

“We don’t use that word,” I automatically corrected. 

Ben tensed, and Daddy tapped my hand and shook his head, “Do you like raw vegetables, Ben?” At his nod, Daddy continued, “We’ll make sure that we have veggies too then.”

“Sorry,” he whispered.

“It’s not a big deal,” Daddy soothed. “We try not to worry about stuff like that. We just eat when we’re hungry, and we play outside, and your body’ll do what it’s supposed to. Okay? You don’t need to worry about it.”

Ben didn’t look convinced, but he nodded, and Daddy let it go. I tried to put it out of my mind as well. Daddy was really careful with me, and mostly everybody knew not to say anything about weight.

“Em,” Daddy said quietly, nudging me and nodding at my hands. When I looked at them, I realized that I was digging my nails into my palms.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, putting my hands in my lap. 

Standing up, Daddy grabbed the bucket from the closet, handing it over to me, “Pick something to do with your hands,” he quietly instructed.

I didn’t say anything, sifting through the contents until I found my preferred toy. I could feel Ben staring at me as I pulled the putty out of its container and began working it between my hands, and I ignored him. I needed to focus on this instead.

Ben’s POV

I’d made Emily upset. I wasn’t sure why, but I could tell that I had. As I watched her, Mr. Matt stood up and walked around the table. When he squatted down, I flinched.

“You’re okay,” he said calmly. 

I shook my head, feeling very close to tears, and Mr. Matt sat down and pulled me into his lap, “Yeah, you are.”

“Em-”

“Is fine. Sometimes, things get overwhelming,” Mr. Matt explained. Emily wasn’t looking at either of us, and as I watched her closely, she stood up and walked over to the window seat. Closing the curtains around herself, she disappeared.

“She’s-”

“Fine,” Mr. Matt finished. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Sometimes, Em gets overwhelmed, and so she needs some time to regulate. Do you want to try it?”

I wasn’t sure, but I hesitantly nodded. If I’d done this to Emily, then I should at least feel what she was feeling.

Mr. Matt grabbed the container, pulling it over, “Take something,” he instructed.

“For why?”

“Just pick something. It doesn’t matter what. There isn’t a wrong answer, Ben,” he shook the bucket a little, and I hesitantly pulled out a squishy ball. It had weird tentacles on it, and I held it carefully, waiting for more direction.

“Alright, now, you just play with it a little. It kind of helps you to think and calm down,” Mr. Matt put his hands over mine, helping me to cup the ball. “What does it feel like?”

“Feels squish?”

“Yeah, it’s definitely squishy,” he agreed, and I could hear a bit of a smile in his voice. “What else?”

I wasn’t sure what the right answer was, and I didn’t want to say the wrong thing, so I shrugged, answering, “Like a ball.”

“It’s okay, Ben,” he soothed, letting one of his hands drop from the ball to rub my arm gently. “There’s not a right answer, sweetheart.”

I heard an exasperated sigh from behind the curtain, and then Emily pushed it open. Walking back over, she gingerly sat on the floor and showed me the stuff she was holding. Taking one of my hands, she pressed the cold, squishy, weird stuff in between her and me.

“This is putty,” she explained seriously. “When I touch it, it feels squishy and cold and a little bit sticky. It’s bluish, but not always because sometimes it seems glittery green. It depends on the light. And it can bounce if you roll it up, or it kind of drips if you hold it upside down. It smells funny, a little bit plastic-y.”

I had been silent, moving only when Emily made me, and I pulled my hand back to my body when she freed it.

Looking at me, she said, “That’s how you play the game. ‘cept it’s not really a game because it’s really Daddy doing sneaky therapy, but he just wants you to think about something else for a little bit. Now you do it.” Looking at Mr. Matt, she continued, “You gotta explain more to him, Daddy. He doesn’t know what you want.”

“Sorry,” he apologized, and I was surprised.

“You’re not ‘posed to ‘pologize to us,” I told him, not even thinking about it. “She’s bein’ bad, and I don’t know how to play this game.”

Before Mr. Matt could say anything, Emily replied, “No I’m not. I was explaining to him, like he’s gotta explain to you. And it’s not really a game, Ben. Like I said, Daddy’s sneaking in therapy. And he does have to apologize because he made a mistake, and so you apologize.”

“Em’s right, sweetheart,” Mr. Matt sounded so patient, and I didn’t know how he was doing it. Between Emily being so bratty, and the way I was too stupid to know how to do anything...Daddy would’ve been smacking a long time ago. “We all apologize because all three of us make mistakes.”

I nodded, not really understanding or believing what he was saying. Mr. Matt waited for a minute, and when I didn’t comment, he continued.

“Tell me about the toy you picked,” he gently prompted.

I didn’t make a move to do anything, and Emily whispered, “Smell it, Ben. Most of ‘em have smells too. And I think that one’s kinda tickly because of the tent’cles.”

It felt like it took forever, and I was exhausted, but I managed to get through the game that wasn’t a game. By the time I was done, I just wanted another nap. Before I could ask, Emily pointed it out.

“My Ben needs to rest, Daddy,” she informed him. She’d been watching my face carefully, and I could see that she was worried. “He’s tired.”

“Is that alright, Ben?” Mr. Matt asked, and I nodded, grateful to Emily for saying it.

“Let’s get you settled,” he suggested.

Leaving Emily downstairs, he carried me through what was becoming a very familiar ritual. We cuddled and rocked while I had a bit of a bottle, then he tucked me in. With more hugs and kisses, I was left to my own devices, and I quickly fell asleep.

Emily’s POV

Daddy came right back down after Ben went to sleep, and he swooped me up, carrying me to an overstuffed chair.

“Put me down,” I told him, although I didn’t sound as angry as I normally would. “Just ‘cause ‘m little doesn’t mean you should be pickin’ me up.”

Daddy smiled at that, hugging me, “You’re the perfect size,” he murmured, kissing my neck. “Exactly right.”

I sighed, “I know. And we eat when we’re hungry and stop when we’re full, and everything works out okay. I know.”

“It’s just hard sometimes,” he sympathized. “It’s okay that it’s still hard, baby. You’ve done a lot of work, but it might always be hard.”

“I just wish I was done,” I admitted. “I’ve done so much, Daddy, and then...I don’t want Ben to be upset because I can’t handle someone saying fat around me.”

He nodded, kissing the back of my neck again, “You should be better by now. You spent twenty years developing bad habits, so the last eight years of work should really have fixed everything.”

I made a face. I knew that he was right, but that didn’t mean I liked what he was saying. Changing the subject, I asked, “Did you call Mr. Mac? I thought maybe if’n we invited Frankie to go do something? Then, Mr. Mac could be sneaky. And Ben should probably get used to seeing people without David.”

“Em...”

“I know,” I told him. “I work hard, and ‘m better than I was, but it’s always going to be hard. It’s okay, Daddy. It was just a surprise.”

“People are normally more careful.”

I shook my head, “I don’t want people to be careful around me. I need to learn how to deal with it without getting upset.”

“And you did today,” he murmured. “You did it, Em. I know it was hard, and you needed a little reminder, but then you calmed yourself down. I’m really proud of you.”

“Okay, Daddy, I know,” I rolled my eyes. “You didn’t call him yet, did you? Because you think I’m changing the subject, but you’re avoiding my question, which means that you didn’t do it.”

Matt sighed, forcing me off his lap, “I didn’t, my little interrogator. I’ll call him.”

“Now,” I insisted, going to grab his phone and bring it back. “It’s okay if he doesn’t want to do it, but he can maybe recommend someone?”

“I’ll ask,” Daddy promised, pulling me back down beside him. “Stay with me.”

“I’m okay,” I told him, trying to pull free. “I want-”

“No, Em,” he instructed firmly, not looking at me as he scrolled through his contacts. “You’ve been on your own a lot today, and yesterday was stressful. I want you to stay where I can see you until Ben wakes up, please.”

Matt’s POV

Emily pouted a little, but she settled in next to me. It only took a few minutes to explain what I wanted to Mac, and he was willing to come over. That didn’t surprise me. His insistence upon doing it for free definitely did.

“Look, Matt,” he explained, “I wanted to beat the shit out of David for what happened at Charlotte’s anyway. I’m glad Ben’s staying with you. If redoing things makes him feel special, then I’m happy to do it. Frankie’s good at stuff like this, and I’ll see about getting a few people to help. If that’s okay?”

I agreed, happily. I wouldn’t have minded paying for it, but I was hoping that Ben would see this for what it was. The rest of the community supported him. They were happy that he was safe. This gesture meant a Saturday to the people doing it, but it meant a lot more for me.

“Alright, that’s step one of your plan then, evil genius,” I told my wife, after hashing out the details with Mac. “What’s step two?”

“Just gotta love ‘im now,” Emily told me, letting out a little sigh of satisfaction. 

“Well, that part’s easy enough,” I murmured, kissing her. “Should we take a nap?”

She shook her head, “‘m not tired.”

“Clean the playroom then?” I suggested. She looked exhausted. 

I was unsurprised by her response, an adamant shake of her head, “No, Daddy. ‘s’clean ‘nough, thank you.”

“I don’t know,” I teased gently.

“Fiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnneeeeeeeee,” she whined. “Nap. But you too, and I think I should really get stories in bed please.”

I was willing to settle for that, knowing that she was likely to drop right off to sleep once I got her laying down somewhere.

“Alright, Em. I’m going to get a glass of water. Go on upstairs, and I’ll be up in a minute,” I told her. She went without further complaint, and I mused for a moment about the possibility that Ben’s behavior would rub off on Emily, rather than the other way around.

Grabbing the water, I followed her upstairs, to discover that I would have no such luck. Safely tucked underneath the blankets on the bed, Emily was talking to Clara Marguerite.

“And then, he sent me up here, and he took forever getting water,” she explained seriously, forcing the cloth doll to nod as though she was listening. After a moment of silence, Emily looked up at me and said, “Clara Marguerite says that is not at all okay, Daddy.”

“My apologies,” I told them both, setting the water glass on Em’s side of the bed. “Drink that; you haven’t had enough to drink today.”

“Should say please,” she lectured, picking it up. She’d apparently grabbed a book on her way to the bedroom, and she handed it over.

“Pooh?”

Nodding, she sleepily allowed herself to be gathered against my side, “From the beginning, please.”

I didn’t get three pages in before Emily was asleep, although I finished out the chapter, hesitant to stop. Once I was certain that she was very deep into her nap, I carefully crept out of bed and went downstairs. I needed to make some phone calls and get some things done while my babies napped.

Ben’s POV

When I woke up, I couldn’t remember where I was. The late afternoon sunlight was slanting through the windows, and I blinked, trying to figure it out. I wasn’t at home, but I was in a crib.

Sitting up, I winced. I remembered now, and I hurt.

“Mr. Matt?” I called. I didn’t want to bother anybody, but he had the medicine that made me not hurt, and I wanted some.

I don’t know where Emily’s daddy had been, but he was by the crib really fast. Smiling down at me, he lowered the side and then hoisted me up.

“How’re you doin’, sweetpea?” he asked.

“Sore,” I admitted shyly. Daddy had never had special names for me, but it seemed like Mr. Matt called me sweetheart or somethin’ else more than he called me Ben. That was okay though. I kind of liked it.

“Sore?” he repeated, carrying me downstairs. “That’s no good. Let’s get you a snack and some medicine. How would you feel about cleaning up a little?”

I shrugged. I wasn’t so sure about having to do stuff when I still felt so bad, but if he wanted me to, I would try.

“I could run a bath,” he told me, grabbing cheese and an apple for me. “Do you think you can wash your hair okay?”

I nodded, although I wasn’t sure, and Mr. Matt put down the food so he could hold my chin, “Do you think you can, or are you just saying that?”

“Maybe?”

“Alright, then we have a couple of choices,” he told me calmly, letting go of my chin and picking up my snack. “Eat this, sweetheart. You need something in your stomach if you’re going to take any medicine.”

Mr. Matt waited until I took a bite from the apple, then he continued, “I can help you, if you want. Or, we can see if Sarah could help when she comes over. Or, you can try by yourself. Or, you can wait. We could try washing your hair in the sink, but I’m worried about having you bent over long enough for me to get you all cleaned up.”

“Do you help Em’ly?” I asked, not looking at him.

“I don’t,” he replied easily. “Em doesn’t like help in the bath. It makes her cranky. But that doesn’t mean I can’t help you. I washed my baby before her. She just doesn’t like it.”

I wasn’t sure that was the same thing. I was a boy. But I didn’t think I could wash my own hair. Not really. My curls were hard anyway. And Mr. Matt seemed like he wanted me to be clean... I nodded slightly, “You help, please.”

“I help please?” he repeated. He did that a lot, and I nodded. “Okay. Finish up your snack, and we’ll get you some medicine, and then we’ll take a quick bath before Em wakes up. And if you change your mind and don’t want help, you just tell me. I promise we’ll stop right away.”

I ate carefully, not wanting to make a mess, and Mr. Matt gave me some more pills. The medication made me feel funny, but it was a good funny. Like stuff didn’t matter so much.

“Alright, bath time,” Mr. Matt announced, carrying me up the stairs. “Do you mind using the big bathroom? The guest bath isn’t exactly stocked,” he explained.

“‘k,” I said quietly. I wasn’t used to someone feeling the need to tell me so much stuff. Daddy just did what he wanted because he was the grown up, and I didn’t understand why Mr. Matt felt the need to check all the time.

Matt’s POV

This felt odd. Em hated help in the bath, and she pretty much only tolerated it when she wasn’t feeling well. I didn’t want to overstep.

“Okay, sweetpea,” I smiled, hoping that he wasn’t picking up on my discomfort, “let’s get your shirt off,” I narrated, gently removing the teeshirt. He was still wearing my oversized clothing, which made things easier, but I needed to remember to talk to Charlotte about getting Ben’s stuff. 

“Is the temp okay, sweetheart?” I asked him, waiting until he dipped his hand in the nearly full tub and nodded. “Okay, then pants off, and we’ll get you washed up.”

He was so passive. Although he moved as I asked him to, he didn’t hesitate or voice any objections. In spite of my discomfort, he seemed to accept this as totally fine. 

I powered through, “Hair first,” I continued my narration, pulling the hand held sprayer out so I could wet his hair down. “So, did Daddy normally help with your bath, or did you do this on your own?”

“I can do it myself,” he said quietly. “Us’ally. ‘cept my hair is harder, but I can do it. I don’t need so much help all the time.”

Sitting back on my heels, I looked at him. “Do you want to do it yourself, Ben? It’s okay if you do.”

“My hair is too hard right now,” he was staring down at the water, face bright red, and I nodded.

“Alright, then how about I do hair and you do the rest? Can you handle that?”

“Yes si-Mr. Matt,” he agreed.

It was possibly the most awkward bath in the history of humanity, but we got through it. Ben was clearly in pain, but we got through it, and at the end, I was left with a sweet smelling little boy.

“Let’s get you dressed,” I narrated, helping him out of the bath. In spite of only planning on helping with his hair, he looked exhausted, and I couldn’t help but gently pat him dry and help him into a fresh pair of pajamas. 

He was so tiny that I thought I could probably get him into a pair of Emily’s pajamas, if I had to. I’d have to pick one of the looser pairs, but they would work. 

“You are just a tiny little peanut,” I commented, hoisting him up onto my hip. “Shall we check on Ms. Emily?”

Ben nodded, resting his head on my shoulder, and I went into my bedroom, sitting on the side of the bed and beginning the slow process of waking up my wife. If Sarah was coming over, Emily would want a chance to wake up and be ready for it.

Emily’s POV

When I woke up from my nap, it was to Daddy gently rubbing my back. Rolling onto my side, I batted his arm away, “Sleepin’.”

“Up, baby girl,” he murmured. “Ben’s been up for a while. I thought you might want to clean up a bit before Aunt Sarah gets here.”

I sat up at that, scrubbing at my eyes. Ben was sitting on Daddy’s lap, watching me carefully, and I forced myself to smile. 

“Hi,” I mumbled. His hair was wet, and he looked pretty adorable in Daddy’s too-big pajamas. “You should ask Aunt Sarah if we can borrow some of Michael’s clothes,” I added. Michael was still bigger than Ben, but it wouldn’t be quite so ridiculous. Having gotten that out of my system, I flopped backward, closing my eyes.

“That’s a good idea,” Daddy praised, gently rubbing and patting the front of my leg.

Ben let out a little sigh, “Get up, Em’ly. You said you’d play with me.”

I sat up at that, looking at him. His eyes were round, and he’d covered his mouth, “Sorry,” he squeaked out.

“It’s okay, Ben,” Daddy soothed. “You were reminding her. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Didn’t mean to boss,” he whimpered, eyes filling up with tears.

Daddy smiled at me, “Emily brings that out in people, don’t’cha, baby?”

“Ha ha, Daddy,” I replied, making a face at him. “Ben, you wanna play with my town? I’ve got buildings and people and a train and lots of stuff.”

“I didn’t-”

“You’re fine,” Daddy repeated, hugging him. “Emily’s not mad. I’m not mad. Can you answer her question now?”

“Yes please,” Ben told me.

I nodded, “Then you and Daddy go downstairs. I gotta brush my teeth and my hair, and then I’ll come down too. ‘k? Daddy’ll play with you ‘til I get there though. He’s not so good at voices, but he’s excellent at getting down the heavy box.”

I rolled onto my stomach, pushing my head under my pillow, and Daddy swatted me, “Up, baby. We’ll go downstairs once you’re vertical.”

That got me up. I sat, looking at them both, and Daddy smiled and leaned to kiss me, “Good girl. Ben and I’ll be downstairs.”

Carrying Ben from the room, Daddy left, and I forced myself to plod to the bathroom to brush my teeth and my hair. I felt a lot more alive once I made it to the playroom.

“Hi Emily!” Ben greeted sunnily. 

He was so happy. It made me think that Daddy might have a tiny little bit of a point about naps being good. For other people; not for me.

Settling onto the floor, I sprawled on my stomach and began moving around the different parts. 

“When’s Aunt Sarah coming?” I asked.

“After work, buttercup,” Daddy replied, ruffling my hair. 

I nodded, “Two hours?”

“About. I was wondering what you guys thought of making pizza tonight, instead of ordering it?”

Ben tensed at that, not responding, and I gave Daddy a look, “Ordering in is fine, Daddy.”

“We’ve got dough,” he said calmly. “We’ve got everything we need, and I thought it would give us something to do while we waited.”

“I’ll show you how,” I told Ben, lowering my head so I could make eye contact. “It’s super easy.”

He nodded slightly, whispering, “Okay.”

“Alright,” Daddy moved a bit so he could be closer to Ben, kissing the top of his head. “We’ll play for a little bit, and then we’ll start dinner. And Ben can do whatever he feels comfortable with.”

Matt’s POV

I’d honestly suggested it as something fun to do. Emily loved making pizza; she found it much less stressful than ordering in. 

I’d yet to meet a little who didn’t have a good time doing it. Making pizza was creative and messy, plus it meant that everyone got control over their food. It was all stuff that appealed to littles. 

I still thought it would be a fun bonding activity, and I hoped that when Ben realized that it wasn’t a big deal, it would help him to relax a little. We did a lot of cooking together, and I didn’t want Emily to feel like we weren’t doing fun things because Ben was here.

Resolving to just try to keep it as low stress as possible, I let them play for a while before I told them it was time to clean up.

“Five more minutes,” Emily begged. They had built an elaborate town, and she was clearly deeply involved in their game.

Ben didn’t even look at me, carefully putting loose pieces of the set away, and I started to help him, reminding Emily, “If we don’t clean up, then we can’t start dinner. I thought you wanted to help.”

That got her moving. For as difficult as eating could sometimes be, Emily typically liked to cook. It was something we did together, and I tried to make sure that we made at least 4 or 5 meals together each week.

The room was cleaned up in no time, and I watched as Ben carefully organized the contents of the box, trying to put everything away perfectly.

“That looks good, peanut,” I interrupted, slowly reaching out for the box.

He jerked his hands away, nodding, and Emily stood up. Reaching her hand down, she hauled him to his feet, “Let’s go wash our hands. We have to do that first. Then I’ll show you where everything is.”

I quickly put the container with the town away, lifting it high up into the closet. We really needed to come up with a better place for storing it. The heavy container was too high for Emily to reach it easily. 

Then, I followed them into the kitchen, where I found both of them at the sink, scrubbing at their hands with soap.

Emily was talking quietly to Ben, prattling about nothing. “Once we get ‘em good and clean, then we gotta get out the ‘gredients. What’cha like on your pizza?”

Ben shrugged, and Emily continued on as though he’d responded, “I like spinach and mushrooms and ham, but Daddy likes ham and pepperoni and olives. And Aunt Sarah likes pineapple on her pizza, which is just wrong.”

“I like cheese,” Ben shyly offered.

“Me too! Sometimes, I just want my pizza plain. If’n you want cheese, then you make just cheese. Do you like thick crust or thin?” she asked, turning off the water and grabbing a hand towel.

Ben shrugged again, and I wanted to hug my wife. She just kept going, talking about various people’s preferences. Listening, I realized that she was making sure to include every possible variation she could. With the exception of Sarah liking pineapple (which I had to agree was gross), she made no comment on the grossness of anything. Knowing her, I recognized that she was trying very hard, since she had very Definite Opinions as to what constituted food.

Ben’s POV

Emily was kind of exhausting. She talked a lot. But she was nice, and she was good at explaining things.

“I like it when we make our own dough,” she was telling me, as she showed me how to shape the crust. “That’s way more fun.”

“It’s also more work,” Mr. Matt commented, stopping behind her to give her a kiss. 

“Still more fun,” Emily insisted with a grin. “Here, Ben, you try,” she instructed, handing over a ball of dough.

I took a deep breath, then mimicked the movements she’d been making. This wasn’t a big deal. They were joking with each other like they always did, so it was okay if I didn’t know what I was doing. Nobody would get mad.

“Knock knock,” I heard, and then Michael and his mommy poked their heads around the corner. “Look, Michael,” she told him. “Pizza.”

“Goody!” Michael said, perking up. He’d been leaning against Aunt Sarah, looking tired, but he stood up. “Can I help, Uncle Matt?”

Mr. Matt smiled at him, nodding, “Hands first, kiddo, but we’re all set to make the pizzas together.”

“Then Mommy’s going to fix Ben and Em’ly,” Michael announced, walking over to the sink. “Mommy, can I make yours?”

Aunt Sarah smiled, telling him, “Go ahead, bunny.”

I’d never spent very much time with Michael, but I could tell Emily was used to him. She seemed a lot happier to see Aunt Sarah though, and I couldn’t blame her. Michael was kind of a baby, and he was really messy. Nobody got upset with him though, not even when he spilled cheese all over the place.

The pizza tasted good, and it was fun to make it, once I realized that Mr. Matt really wasn’t going to get mad. After dinner came the part that I wasn’t so much looking forward to.

“Alright, Miss Emily, what do you say that you go first?” Aunt Sarah asked, holding out a hand. “Do you want to use the playroom, or are we going to go upstairs?”

Emily looked at her daddy before nodding toward the playroom, “In there.”

“Come on,” Aunt Sarah led her from the room.

Mr. Matt had pulled me down onto his lap, and I tried to stand. He wouldn’t let me, asking, “And where are you going, peanut?”

“Em’ly prob’ly wants you,” I explained.

He rubbed my back, not letting me go, “She’s fine. She would have asked if she wanted me.”

I nodded, allowing myself to relax and not think about having to go next.

Emily’s POV

Usually, Daddy would stay with me, but Ben looked so comfy. Matt likes to cuddle like that, and I usually can’t sit still long enough to do it. 

I knew it was going to be a quick exam anyway. Aunt Sarah had told me that Ben’s daddy hadn’t injured me really, that she’d seen worse in play. I was sore, and she wanted to keep an eye on it, but I was fine.

So, I laid out on the couch, pulling down my yoga pants so that Aunt Sarah could do a quick check of my welted bottom.

She sat on the floor once she’d seen, helping me to pull my pants back up, “How’re things going?”

I grinned, “Ben’s nice. He’s nervous, but he’s nice.”

“How are you?” she gently probed.

“Okay,” I shrugged. “Wasn’t so bad for me. It hurt, but I knew Daddy would come. Did he tell you about my plan?”

“The nursery plan?” she smiled at me.

I nodded, “Uh huh. Soon as Ben’s good enough to go out and do something for a day, Mr. Mac’s going to fix up the room so it’s nice for him.”

She leaned in, resting against the couch, and brushed hair away from my forehead, “You’re a good girl, Emily Anne.”

“I know,” I told her. “Just remind, Daddy, ‘k? He’s worried that I’m overdoing it with Ben, but I just want him to know that he’s safe here, with us, and that we want him.”

“Your daddy knows,” she assured me, standing. 

I allowed her to tug me to my feet, following her out of the room. Daddy, Ben, and Michael weren’t waiting in the kitchen anymore. They’d gone to the living room, and Daddy had put in a movie.

“All set, baby?” Daddy asked me.

I nodded, and he helped Ben stand before rising from the couch, “I put in a movie for you and Michael. Holler if you need us.”

“I-”Ben started.

Daddy stopped what he was doing, sitting back down and looking up at Ben. “What, honey?”

“Em didn’t need you,” he whispered, so quietly that I could barely hear him.

“Do you want to do it by yourself?” Daddy asked. I could tell that he wanted to go with Ben, but that was only because I knew him. 

Intervening, I said, “Daddy’s a good hand holder, Ben. He usually sits with me.”

Ben looked at me, sucking his lip between his teeth, “It’s okay?” he checked.

I didn’t wait for Daddy, nodding, “He likes doing that stuff. I just had to have some time to talk with Aunt Sarah by myself. Daddy doesn’t understand stuff sometimes, and Aunt Sarah will ‘splain it to him.”

“She hitting me up for another shopping trip?” Daddy grinned at Sarah, standing again and picking Ben up. “Come on. Let’s get you checked out.”

I watched as they walked away, then sprawled across the couch. I knew that Ben was more hurt than I was, and I wanted Daddy to be with him. He needed it. I was fine out here with Michael.

Matt’s POV

Ben was holding himself stiffly in my arms, and it felt weird. I kept waiting for him to relax against me, but he squirmed down as soon as he could, watching Sarah expectantly.

“Can you take your pants off?” Sarah asked him quietly.

Ben nodded, allowing the pajama pants to slide down his hips. Stepping out, he neatly folded them, awaiting further instruction.

“I need you to lie down,” Sarah explained.

Step by step, we got through the exam. He finally grabbed my hands when Sarah began rebandaging the worst of the injuries.

“You okay?” I whispered, putting my face down at his level.

Ben’s eyes were screwed firmly shut, and he nodded, although I could tell he was trying not to cry, “Uh huh.”

“Hurts, doesn’t it, kiddo?” Sarah commented. “I’m being as gentle as I can. You’re being very good for me.”

“Ben’s a good boy,” I told her. “He hasn’t given me any trouble.”

That didn’t get a response, and Sarah hurriedly finished up so I could help Ben redress. As I was knotting the tie on the pants, I remembered.

“Sare? Em mentioned maybe borrowing some clothes from Michael?”

She nodded, saying, “Charlotte told you then. That’s good.”

“Told me what?” I asked, focused on Ben. “I haven’t talked to her today.”

“Oh,” Sarah managed, smiling brightly at Ben. “How about you go watch the movie, Ben? I need to talk to Matt for a minute.”

Ben leaned into me, looking up, and I nodded, “Go on, peanut. I’ll be out in a minute. Tell Em not to hog the couch.”

He quietly left, arms wrapped tightly around himself. Sarah waited until he was gone before she said, “Everything’s gone.”

“Everything where?” I was puzzled.

“At David and Ben’s,” she explained, jaw clenched. “David got dropped off at home, with instructions to pack. After he left, Charlotte went over to see if she could get some stuff for Ben, but it’s all gone.”

“What do you mean?” I laughed. “He’s got clothes and toys and stuff. How would David pack everything up that quickly?”

Sarah sighed, “It looks like he didn’t have much to begin with, and anything he had, David took. There’s some furniture left, and kitchen utensils, but David apparently packed up the SUV with clothes, books, electronics, and whatever toys Ben had, and he took off. He left a letter on the counter instructing us that he would have a company come to pack the rest of it, and it better all be there.”

“That bastard.”

I tried not to use language like that. Emily had an unfortunate habit of cursing, and it was something that I’d been gently discouraging forever. Sometimes though, it was the only thing that fit.

I sank down onto the couch, letting out a laugh, “Guess it’s good Em got all that stuff,” I managed. 

“Probably,” Sarah agreed. “How’re you guys doing with all of this?”

“We’re fine,” I managed. “He’s a sweetheart, Sarah. I can’t believe that anyone wouldn’t want him. He’s just a really sweet little boy.”

Sarah smiled, looking sad, and she said, “If you guys need any help, you know that Michael and I will. I’d be happy to take Ben for a few days, if you feel like you need a break.”

“No,” I responded, surprised by my own vehemence. Taking a breath, I explained, “He’s been through a lot. I don’t want him to feel any disruption. As long as Em’s doing okay, then we’re fine.”

“Speaking of Em,” Sarah drawled, “I heard someone has a plan?”

“And photos,” I quipped. “We emailed them over to Mac, and I’m expecting everything in the next day or two. When do you think Ben’ll be in good enough shape to be out for a day?”

“Depends on what you mean by out. Are you still planning on taking them into the office on Saturday?”

I nodded, “I figured I could get work done, and they can play.”

“How long?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Half a day, probably? I talked with Mac, and it seems like he’ll need a full day.”

Sarah nodded, “How about you take them out Saturday. Physically, they’ll be fine so long as you don’t do anything too strenuous. Breakfast, office, lunch, and then something else? Maybe a playdate with Michael, if you can’t come up with anything else, although I’m guessing that some shopping needs to get done so Ben’s got clothes.”

“Em suggested?” I joked.

“Maybeeeee,” Sarah grinned at me. “He’s going to need clothes, and shopping’ll be good. It’s physical enough that Emily won’t be bouncing off the walls, but you guys can stop if you need to.”

“Fine,” I sighed. Emily shopped like it was an extreme sport, but Ben needed clothes. “I might slip her some of that sedative first,” I smirked.

“If you can handle two, don’t you think that you can handle a little shopping trip?”

“Mean.”

Sarah laughed, and we rejoined the others. I didn’t want to talk with Ben about his things just yet. I was dreading that discussion, and I wanted to wait until bedtime.

Michael and Sarah made that easy. Michael finished watching Dumbo with Ben and Emily, and the kids had a snack, before Sarah decided it was time to leave.

That still left me with at least 90 minutes until bedtime, and I decided I couldn’t put it off any longer.

“Em, I want you to go and get ready for bed please, baby.”

My wife gave me a look, objecting, “It’s not time yet.”

I nodded, “And you don’t need to sleep yet, but I want you in jammies with your teeth brushed and your face washed, please. You can do something quiet in bed until it’s time for lights out.”

She wanted to argue more, but I gave her a pointed look before glancing at Ben. Although I knew it was wrong, I decided to use the fact that she didn’t want to upset him.

Without further argument, Emily went upstairs, and I led Ben into the kitchen. Settling him onto the comfortable chair that I’d bought with the specific plan of snuggling Emily, I squatted in front of him.

“Okay, sweetheart. It’s time for jammies and a bottle,” I explained.

I got a small nod in response, and I hurriedly put together a bottle with warm milk. Ben was still taking painkillers, which would help him sleep, but I wanted to get him relaxed without drugging him first.

“Can I carry you?” I asked, once the bottle was prepared.

Ben didn’t look at me, but he gave a tiny nod. I got down on his level again, gripping his knees, “I need a yes or a no, honey.”

“Yes,” he whispered, glancing at me and offering a quick smile before he looked away again.

“That’s my good boy,” I praised, standing back up and hauling him onto my hip. “I wasn’t joking when I told Aunt Sarah that; you are a very good boy, and Emily and I love having you here.”

He smiled at that, and I continued to talk quietly about anything other than the fact that he had nothing, all through changing him into another one of my tee shirts and helping him brush his teeth and wash his face.

“Alright, let’s sit and have your bottle, and we can have a chat about our day,” I narrated, leading him to the nursery and settling in the rocking chair.

His eyes had widened at the word chat, and I calmly pulled him down to cuddle with me while I fed him the bottle.

“Did Em tell you about our chats?” I asked conversationally. “Before bed, every night, we talk about our day. That way, if anything’s wrong, we can fix it, and it means that I get to hear all the cool daycare stuff that I might miss out on.”

“She didn’t tell me,” he whispered around the nipple.

I nodded, “Is that an okay plan with you? I figured that this way, you and Em both get some special time that’s just you. When we’re talking, Emily won’t interrupt unless it’s really important, and when Emily and I talk, you’ll give us some privacy unless it’s important. Deal?”

“Yes, Mr. Matt,” Ben told me. His brow was furrowed, and I gently smoothed it with my fingers. I was about to start talking when he said, “Michael calls you Uncle Matt.”

He was avoiding eye contact, and I focused on rocking as I answered, “Yup. Aunt Sarah and I have been friends for a really long time, and so Michael’s kind of like family.”

“Oh.”

“Although,” I continued, “I’m thinking that you’re kind of family too, if you’re living here and I’m doing all the daddy-type stuff with you. It’s okay if you’re not comfortable with it, but you could call me Uncle Matt too.”

Ben’s face lit up, and I wanted to say or do anything to keep him smiling. Especially when he nodded and said, “Uh huh,” sounding very happy.

“Alright, then I’m Uncle Matt.”

I could tell that the idea pleased him, and I hated what I was about to do. Nonetheless, it had to be done.

“Ben, honey, when Aunt Charlotte went by your house today, she said that David had already moved out,” I started. “He’s boxed up most of the stuff, and she couldn’t find your toys or anything.”

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t the response I got. Ben simply shrugged, saying, “Dad-David bought it all for me anyway. Guess it wasn’t really mine.”

Every conversation about David made me think I’d reached the height of my hatred for that man, and yet, it just kept getting worse. 

In spite of myself, I asked, “None of it? What about birthday presents?”

“David bought ‘em,” Ben explained. “‘s’okay, Uncle Matt. Maybe I can borrow some of Michael’s clothes until I figure out what ‘m going to do? I don’t need much.”

“I talked with Aunt Sarah about that,” I told him, forcing myself to move forward in spite of my anger at David. “It’s no big deal. We’ll borrow enough to get us through until the weekend, and then we’re going to hit up the mall.”

That was when I finally saw the upset I’d been expecting earlier. Ben stiffened, telling me, “I don’t have any money. I don’t mind-if Michael’s okay with sharing, then that’s fine. I’ll get a job, and then I can buy some clothes.”

“No, honey,” I gently told him. “We’re going to get you clothes this weekend. It’s no big deal.”

“I’ll pay you back, once I get a job,” he insisted.

Knowing Emily’s taste in clothing, not to mention the obscene number of things she’d already purchased, I figured that wouldn’t be able to happen.

“How about you let me worry about it?” I asked him. “I’m the grown up.”

He looked deeply uncomfortable with that, but he finally nodded, and I smiled at him, “That’s a good boy,” I murmured with a kiss. “Was there anything else today that you wanted to talk about?”

Ben’s POV

I didn’t know what we were supposed to talk about, but I didn’t want to get up from my comfortable position on his lap, so I thought very hard for a minute.

Uncle Matt continued, “I figured we’d read a story, once we talked, if that’s okay.”

“What story?” I asked, curiosity piqued.

He smiled at me, and replied, “Whatever you want, sweetheart. Em’s got a huge library.”

Emily’s voice piped in, “Can we read The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Daddy? I think Ben would like it.”

“You’re supposed to be entertaining yourself,” Uncle Matt lectured. “Remember what we talked about? This is Ben’s time with me.”

“What’s it about?” I asked, too curious to wait.

“You’ll like it,” Emily promised. “Let me get it.”

“Emily Anne,” Uncle Matt said, sounding irritated. 

It seemed like he hadn’t said anything because Emily turned and disappeared, reappearing a moment later with the book in hand. 

“We should sit over there,” she instructed, gesturing toward the huge chair. It was more like a chair and a half. “That way we can both see the pictures.”

“Emily,” Uncle Matt repeated, not moving.

“I’m sorry,” she told him, not sounding very sorry at all. “I know it’s supposed to be your time with Ben, but I heard story, and I thought we could read together. You already had your chat.”

“Which you-” Uncle Matt stopped, taking a deep breath. “Ben, would you like to read without Emily? It’s okay if you do.”

I shook my head. I didn’t care. I just wanted a story. Plus, if Emily liked me, then I could probably stay here longer.

Uncle Matt sighed, but he moved over to the bigger chair, waiting for Emily before he opened the book up and started, “It was dusk-winter dusk,” and I was sucked in until he finished, “which the governess had no option to obey,” closing the book.

“More,” I begged.

That got a laugh, and Uncle Matt shook his head, “No, sweetpea. It’s time for sleep. Let’s get you tucked in.”

“But-” I stopped myself, saying, “Yes, Uncle Matt.”

He stopped, shooing Emily away, “Go wait for me, baby,” he instructed. Once she was gone, he hugged me and said, “It’s okay for you to ask for more. I might not always say yes, but I’m glad you liked the book. We’ll read another chapter tomorrow.”

“When?” I asked, avoiding eye contact.

“Tomorrow, peanut. If you want to read in the morning, we can do that. But for now, it’s time for bed.”

I nodded, standing and walking over to the crib. Uncle Matt picked me up, carefully settling me on my side.

“Do you want some medicine?” he asked, waiting until I nodded before he grabbed the pills from his pocket and handed one over with a bottle of water. “There you go.”

I swallowed the medicine, then allowed him to help me scoot down before he sat on the side of the crib.

“We had a very good day today, Ben,” he commented, smiling kindly. “Things are different here, and I can tell that’s scary for you, but you are trying very hard for me, and I appreciate that. I’m very proud of you.”

I couldn’t help but smile a little at that, and Uncle Matt continued, “And I’m so happy that you’re here with us, peanut. You make Em and me very happy.”

He leaned in to give me a kiss, then hooked up the side of the crib and turned on the nightlight.

“Sleep tight, sweetpea. Call me if you need me,” he instructed.

I nodded, suddenly feeling very tired. He was right; it’d been a good day.

Matt’s POV

He was the sweetest little boy. He genuinely was. I was sure that I’d see some more negative behavior as he got more comfortable, but although I believed he could probably be naughty, I didn’t believe that he was mean.

Em wasn’t mean either, although she had more than a little bit of a naughty streak, and she was incredibly, unbelievably stubborn. When I got to our room, I found her jumping on our bed.

She grinned when she saw me, falling onto her butt and saying, “He liked the book.”

“You’re not supposed to jump on the bed,” I lectured her, frowning.

“Was just a little jumpin’, Daddy,” she explained. “He did though! He liked that book.”

“I ought to spank you,” I said, sitting on the side of the bed and giving her a stern look. “I specifically told you that you needed to stay in our room, didn’t I?”

“I wanted family reading time,” she explained nonchalantly. 

I nodded, “And I told you to stay in here. What am I supposed to do with you?”

She got onto her knees, crawling over to me and laying herself across my back, “Love me.”

Naughty or not, she was so matter of fact in her response, and I shook my head, grabbing her and pulling her around onto my lap.

“I do.”

She sighed heavily, explaining, “I want Ben to feel like it’s okay to do this stuff, and you make him nervous that it’s not because it’s just him. He needs to see you daddying with me so he knows it’s safe.”

I wasn’t sure how much of that was Ben and how much was my wife. Ben was definitely taking his cues from her, but he’d seemed happy enough about reading.

Nodding, I told her, “Next time, you need to talk to me about your plans, baby. No just showing up and telling me what we’re doing. Ben’s confused when you do that. Understood?”

“Yes, Daddy,” she smiled up at me. “I don’t really have to go to bed, do I? It’s not even barely dark yet.”

It was almost the time we’d typically go to bed, but I’d wanted to spend some time with just Emily, so I shook my head.

“Nope, baby. What would you like to do?”

“Hot chocolate,” she insisted, bouncing off the bed and grabbing my hand. 

Hot chocolate was a ritual, and it was one that I fully approved of. It meant that Emily would sit still for more than 10 seconds, and she’d consume empty, liquid calories, which was always a stretch. It was something we did together.

“Hot chocolate it is,” I agreed, going down the stairs and pulling out milk and whipped cream. “Get the chocolate? Are we doing vanilla or mint?”

“Just chocolate,” Emily stated emphatically, going into the pantry. 

We worked in companionable silence, making two mugs of hot chocolate, which Emily topped liberally with whipped cream.

“Where to, Em?” I said, picking them up.

She nodded at the stairs, “Our room. If’n Ben wakes up...”

“Alright,” I told her, not saying anything about how thoughtful she was being. As good as it seemed, I worried that she’d take any praise as a suggestion that she should only worry about Ben. 

Back in our room, we settled together on the bed, drinking hot chocolate and talking quietly. I told her about our plans for Saturday, and her face lit up.

“And then it’ll be all done!” she crowed. “He’s going to be so happy.”

I was glad to see her excited, and I nodded, deciding to tell her about Ben’s things. “And you were right to order stuff,” I said. “David took everything, so hopefully, we can start getting together toys and clothes and stuff so that he doesn’t have to share.”

“I don’t mind.”

“And that’s very sweet,” I praised, gently taking the empty mug from her and placing it on the nightstand. “But I think he needs his own stuff too.”

She nodded at that, helping me to pull back the covers. I was surprised to not get the pro forma complaint about it being too early, but I simply tucked her in, turning off the light and pulling her into her usual position on top of me.

Resting her head on my chest, Emily was quiet. I could tell that she was working on matching her breathing to mine, and I consciously slowed my breaths, hoping it would help her to calm down and sleep.

“Daddy?” she said, when I thought she was just about asleep.

I didn’t want to wake her up too much, but she had something on her mind, “Hmmm?”

“Ben can stay as long as he wants,” she told me. “Right?”

I nodded, “He’s welcome here; you know that. So long as you’re okay, then I’m fine with Ben staying with us.”

She nodded, letting out a little sigh, “Good.”

I was happy that she was happy, and I was even more happy that she was falling asleep. Of course, before she could do that, she had to tell me one last thing.

“He called you Uncle Matt,” she commented. I could practically hear the smile in her voice.

I hadn’t been sure how she’d feel about it, so it was good to hear that it was alright. “Yeah,” I replied. “He did.”

“That’s good,” she said quietly. “You can be his Uncle Matt,” she added.

“Close your eyes,” I instructed, rubbing her back. She was exhausted. I could tell.

That got a little nod, and after a while, she finally dropped off to sleep.

I tried to keep the week as quiet as possible. We stayed at home. Sarah stopped by one day, by herself, to check on Ben and Emily and drop off clothing, but other than that, we didn’t see anyone. Although some packages came in, I mostly tried to tuck away the gifts, deciding that it might be less overwhelming if Ben didn’t realize how much had been purchased.

It seemed to do some good. He was adapting to our rules, although he’d still watch Emily closely, clearly nervous when she did something that he thought was wrong.

I learned more about him, bit by painful bit. He liked orange juice, but only if it had pulp. He preferred to read or color. Emily wanted to play outside, and Ben wouldn’t complain, but he was happier to sit on the patio with sidewalk chalk or bubbles, rather than run or swing. Every piece of information was difficult to get, a combination of observation and monosyllabic answers to direct questions.

Emily seemed to learn more. I’d leave them to play together while I called patients or cleaned, and I could hear their quiet back and forth. It sounded like real conversations, although he typically clammed up when I re-entered the room.

Em would tell me bits and pieces during our nightly chats, mentioning that Ben had liked the baked oatmeal I’d made for breakfast, or that he didn’t like bacon. We still weren’t getting a lot of background information, but he was at least comfortable enough with Emily to say that he disliked something.

Our nightly chats were slightly more productive. He was hesitant to do anything that he viewed as “bad,” but he would talk to me as long as we were rocking together in the chair. He’d even ask questions.

Saturday was the first deviation. I’d warned them that we would go out on Saturday. Emily knew the real reason, but I simply told Ben that I needed to do some work, and he needed some clothes. 

“I really don’t think I do,” he told me worriedly.

I was helping him get dressed into some more of Michael’s clothes. They kind of fit, but even Michael was taller than Ben was.

Smiling down at him, I said, “I think that you do, sweetpea.”

“I really-”

Cutting him off, I used the words that I frequently employed with Emily. I found that they worked even better with Ben. 

“This isn’t a choice, Ben. We’re shopping, and I’m buying you some clothes. Your choices today are what clothes you want and where you’d like to go for lunch. Understood?”

Ben nodded, allowing himself to be led to the rocking chair so I could help him with his shoes, “Yes, Uncle Matt,” he mumbled.

Looking up at him this time, I touched his cheek, “You’re not in trouble, peanut. I was just telling you. I know that sometimes, stuff is a choice, and I wanted you to understand that now isn’t one of those times.”

“You’re not mad,” Ben quietly recited.

It had been an oft repeated phrase in the last week, and I responded, “I’m not mad at all. Are you all ready to go?”

“Uh huh,” Ben replied.

“Good boy,” I praised, standing up and lifting him. I’d found that Ben didn’t typically argue about being carried, and he usually relaxed against me. Although he wouldn’t say it, I thought he enjoyed it, and I loved the way he snuggled against me.

Emily was waiting on the couch, laying down with her feet over the back. I watched as she waved them around, clearly ready to go.

“43 bottles of beer on the wall,” she sang quietly. “43 bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around-”

I held my finger up to my lips, indicating that Ben should remain quiet. He grinned, then buried his face in my shoulder, shoulders shaking a bit.

“42 bottles of beer on the wall,” I finished, grabbing one of Em’s feet and shoving to the side so she spun on her back. “What are you doing with your shoes on the couch?” I asked, grinning down at her.

“Waiting for forever,” she told me, trying to pout.

Ben’s tensed, and I rubbed his back, saying, “She’s kidding, peanut.”

“And I’m used to it,” Emily replied, rolling off the couch and standing. “Daddy takes for-ev-er to get ready. You’ll get used to it too.”

“Okay, Em,” I rolled my eyes.

Ben giggled a little bit, and I bounced him a few times, “What’s so funny, peanut?”

“You and Em’ly argue a lot,” he commented.

“You’ll get used to that too,” Emily said drolly.

“Yeah, Ben’ll get used to a lot,” I said, realizing that Mac was due to show up any minute. “Alright, Em, did you pack a bag?”

She nodded, hoisting it so I could see, “Books and Clara Marguerite and Delphinia and a blanket in case Ben needs to nap because I won’t need to, Daddy.”

I didn’t bother to argue about naps, simply nodding toward the door, “Then breakfast and work,” I told them both, carrying Ben out to the car and helping him to buckle into the backseat. By the time we got home, the nursery would be finished.

We stopped at the diner on the way. Em’s pick. I’d told them both last night that they had to agree on who was choosing breakfast and who was choosing lunch. And I’d probably order takeout for dinner. It was more dining out than I liked to do, especially because it tended to trigger Emily, but I figured I’d need to focus on the two of them tonight. Today was a major change.

“What do you want to eat, sweetheart?” I asked Ben quietly. 

He was slowly reading the menu, and he shrugged, “I don’t know.”

Emily had seated herself across from me, and she’d already shut her menu. I could have said what she was going to get; it was the same thing she always got.

Ben sat up straighter, watching Emily with open admiration, and I wrapped my arm around his shoulder, “Do you feel like salty or sweet?”

Emily’s POV

Choices were still hard for Ben. Daddy had said they might always be. Food used to be harder for me, but it’d gotten easier with time.

“Salty,” Ben whispered, so quietly that I could barely hear.

“Salty,” Daddy agreed, dragging one finger down Ben’s options. “Em’s going to get two eggs, over easy, with extra crispy bacon and rye toast. And probably orange juice.”

I stuck my tongue out at him, “Know it all.”

Ben looked at us, then looked down, and I leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially, “And Daddy’s going to get an omelet with ham, swiss, and mushrooms, hash browns, and coffee.”

“I don’t-” Ben was avoiding eye contact, but he continued, “We didn’t go out to eat much.”

“We go out sometimes,” I explained. “I like to get breakfast if’n we have to go into the office, and we mostly come here. What did you eat at home?”

Ben shuddered at that, “Oatmeal,” he told me, voice full of loathing.

“I thought you liked oatmeal, peanut,” Daddy commented.

“I like it at home,” Ben said. “But it’s crunchy there, and you put lots of stuff in it. David said that was bad for you.”

He’d never called it home before, and I grinned widely. Before I could comment, Daddy said, “It’s better with stuff in it.”

“I liked it,” Ben replied. “I think I want scrambled eggs.”

“Good boy,” Daddy praised, rubbing his shoulder. 

The waitress came by soon after that, and Ben ordered. He was still quiet, but he’d watched me closely, and he mimicked the way I acted. I kind of liked that he did that.

Ben’s POV

Breakfast was a trial. I knew that Uncle Matt and Emily were used to this, but I wasn’t. And in spite of Uncle Matt’s promises that he wouldn’t get mad at me for doing something I didn’t know was bad, it still made me nervous.

It was something to be gotten through. Emily had promised that I would like Uncle Matt’s office, and so I was a little bit excited.

As soon as we got there, Emily jumped out of the car, pulling open my door and grabbing my hand.

“Come on! Daddy’s got tons of stuff to play with,” she explained.

It was a Saturday, and Uncle Matt had explained that there wouldn’t be anyone else there. That was definitely a good thing because Emily didn’t know anything about being discreet. She chattered away as Uncle Matt led us to the office, then instantly pounced upon the toy box, pulling things out.

“See? He’s got great stuff,” she explained.

“Okay, Em,” Uncle Matt told her. “Just remember, anything that comes out has to get put away again.”

Emily nodded absently, motioning for me to sit down beside her, “See? He’s got lots of stuff for when real kids come to visit.”

Uncle Matt was a therapist. He worked with mostly kids. Emily had said that before they moved here, Uncle Matt had worked with some littles too. Here though, it was too complicated.

“He didn’t want to live next door to someone who was telling him all their secrets,” she’d told me. “‘s’too weird.”

That made sense. He still did little therapy though, Emily insisted, just with only her and me now.

She had complained about it, but I kind of liked it. Uncle Matt had lots of cool art stuff, and he was good at making people feel safe. The kids who came to see him were lucky.

I watched him settle behind his desk and turn on a computer. He had important therapist stuff to do, and Em and I were supposed to play with each other.

“Come on Ben,” Emily prodded. “I wanna play with Daddy’s pirates.”

“Let Ben pick,” Uncle Matt reminded her.

I didn’t mind, and I let Emily pick out what she wanted. She always had ideas of what to do, and they were usually fun. Plus, I didn’t want to be bossy. People didn’t like that.

Frankie’s POV

Emily and Matt’s house was quiet when we got there. Papa had been watching out the window, waiting for Matt’s car to go by.

Within fifteen minutes, it was no longer quiet. When Papa had talked to Matt’s friends, he’d ended up with a whole crew of free workers.

“Everything we need is in the office or already in the nursery,” I directed. “We’ve moved out most of the stuff, but if you and you could drape,” I pointed, “there are supplies in the nursery. Who is going to cut in?”

One of the men made a noise before raising his eyebrows at Papa, and I rolled my eyes. We were going to have issues.

Stalking directly over to Papa, I said firmly, “I’m the one who has been talking to Emily all week. I’m the one she emailed pictures too. And I’m the one who talked her down from her original, completely over the top, plan.”

“Alright, but can you use words like please?” he suggested, clearly trying not to laugh. “And maybe be a little less bossy.”

Hands on my hips, I gritted, “We are working on a tight timeline here. If we’re going to get this done, then someone needs to take charge.”

That got me a raised eyebrow, and Mac waited. I managed to maintain eye contact for about thirty seconds before I sighed and suggested a compromise.

“I’ll tell you, and you can tell them.”

“Thank you,” he grinned.

I sighed again. We’d discussed the plans at length, but I was used to being allowed to organize things. Because frankly, Mac sucked at it.

“We need to organize who is going to cut in, who is going to roll, and who is going to put stuff together.”

“I’m assuming that you’re putting stuff together?” 

“I thought with Sarah?” I suggested. “Michael can help.”

Sarah wasn’t as damn bossy as the rest of the adults, and she mostly laughed I did something she thought was wrong. And Michael was a baby, but he could hold stuff.

“Painting?”

“I don’t care,” I shrugged. “Whoever has the most experience. We need to repaint the room, and that needs to happen right now. It’ll take at least two coats. The paint is quick drying, which is good because Emily wanted the trees. I can free hand those, but the walls need to be set.”

Mac nodded, and I watched him go back over to the cluster of adults, giving everyone jobs. Once he nodded at me, I said, “I need someone to help carry boxes upstairs as well. Emily suggested that the master bedroom would be a good place for putting together the new rocking chair and the dresser.”

I started upstairs after that, not needing to watch the non-verbal conversations going on around me. I’d started to adapt to the community, but sometimes, I wish they would try to adapt to me.

Maybe they wouldn’t change the way they interacted with all of the others, but I hated that the “grown ups” felt like they should all be allowed to boss me around. I had one papa, and he was doing a more than adequate job of it.

Sarah’s POV

Poor Frankie looked grumpy, and I prodded Michael along after her. I could tell that she was having a hard time adjusting, and I didn’t blame her. 

Everyone kind of accepted Emily the way she was, and it was the same with Lucy. For whatever reason, Frankie was having a harder time of it. Mac had mentioned something to Charlotte about Frankie being introverted, and I figured that had to be some of it.

Lucy and Em could both sass with the best of them, but at the end of the day, they were very social little girls who loved to see other people. Frankie seemed more likely to hole up in her house, and it seemed like her anxiety about being around everyone else manifested itself in some less than polite interactions.

“What would you like us to do?” I asked Frankie, once we were in Emily and Matt’s bedroom.

Avoiding eye contact, she explained, “The dresser needs to be put together, if you think you can? I need to reupholster the big chair.”

I nodded, “That’s fine. Do you have tools?”

“It’s Ikea,” she explained. “There should be an allen wrench in the box.”

We worked in silence, listening to the noise of the next room. Poor Frankie looked like she wanted to check on them, but she was clearly trying to restrain herself.

Michael wandered off at some point, and I let him go. He was almost as used to Matt and Emily’s home as he was to his own, and I knew he’d just take himself down to the playroom. 

“It’s hard, huh?” I offered quietly.

Frankie had been focused on the chair she was reupholstering, and she jumped a little at my voice. 

It took her so long to say something that I thought she was ignoring me. Finally, she offered, “I know that Mac and my relationship isn’t the way most of you guys work.”

“There is no one way,” I replied, grinning. “All of our families are different. What makes our community work is that we respect everyone else’s right to build the family that they want.”

Again, she was silent for a long time before telling me, “In other words, nobody is thinking that I’m doing this wrong, except for me.”

“Kind of?” I responded. “I think that people will have an easier time once they get to know you. And it might be helpful if you keep in mind the fact that we all do have some pretty important things in common. Whether you would live exactly the way that Emily does, or Michael, isn’t the point. We’re all in the same boat just because we’re all living this kind of life.”

“We’re more alike than we are different,” she recited with a sigh, sitting on the floor beside the chair and hiding her face against it. 

“I’m guessing that’s what Papa says?”

She nodded, not looking at me, “Things were fine in Chicago. It’s just here.”

“Things’ll be fine here,” I told her, scooting over and hugging her. She stiffened, but I calmly explained. “It takes time to adjust. You’re used to being able to go out in public and just be Mac’s wife. You get a little break.”

“It’s just all the time,” she whispered, sounding dangerously close to tears.

She was just so sad, and I let go so that I could lift her chin, “Tell you what? How about you and I go and do something next weekend?”

“Like what?”

“Emily and I go and get manicures and pedicures sometimes. We could do that, and get some lunch? I promise, no mommying; it can just be two adults.”

She let out another sigh, whispering, “That sounds really nice.”

“Do you want me to talk to Papa?”

She shook her head, saying, “I’ll do it. He won’t care. I think he’ll be relieved that I’m making friends.”

“Alright,” I told her. “Shall we get back to work?”

She nodded, turning away and surreptitiously wiping her eyes, “Yeah. I need to get this done so I can paint in the trees in the nursery.”

I went back to the dresser, finishing it up quickly. Regardless of what she’d told me, I wanted to talk to Mac. He was in a unique position when he moved into the neighborhood; he was one of the few people who didn’t already have a built-in network of friends here. I was thinking that a little helpful parenting advice, namely that he needed to make sure that Frankie had time to do stuff with him where he wasn’t her papa, might go a long way toward making her feel better.

Matt’s POV

I was deeply involved in my case notes, going over what was supposed to have been an easy consult but had instead turned into a horrible nightmare of paperwork and lawyers. Not for the first time, I resolved that I would stop working with children with divorced parents. The kids were fine. Most of the time, the parents were fine. Maybe it was the court?

As I was musing over this, I felt a gentle pat on my knee, and I turned to look. Ben was standing next to me, staring.

“Hey, sweetpea,” I greeted. “What’s up?”

“Em fell ‘sleep,” he explained quietly, inclining his head over to where my wife was sprawled on the floor. She appeared to have just passed out midway through their game, and Ben had spread the blanket over her shoulders.

I smiled at him, asking, “How would you feel about cuddling?”

A week into this experiment, I knew the answer, and I was unsurprised to find myself with a lapful of Ben. Reaching into my lower desk drawer, I pulled out the knit blanket I kept in there for when Emily had to spend the day here, and I covered him.

“How’s that?” 

Ben was relaxed against me, and he mumbled, “Thank you, Uncle Matt.”

“You’re welcome, peanut.”

He was so polite, and I gave him a little squeeze before returning to my work. I hadn’t had a ton of experience with Ben yet, but I was happy when I heard a snuffly little breath, and I realized that Ben had fallen asleep, just as I’d thought he would.

Thumb in his mouth, he napped right through me completing my work. Since Emily was still sleeping as well, I took out my phone and began playing Candy Crusher.

I’d just used up my last life when Emily began to stir with a groan, grumbling about me letting her sleep.

“Shhh,” I warned. “Ben’s sleeping too.”

“Weren’t supposed to let me fall asleep,” she complained.

It was a frequent disagreement, and I knew my lines. “If you were tired enough to fall asleep, then you needed the rest. I’m not going to keep you awake.”

“Did not. I would have put it in our vows if’n I’d known you were going to be like this.”

“Hush,” I repeated, looking down at Ben.

This was a deviation from our typical argument, and Emily sat back, crossing her arms over her chest with a humph.

Check and mate. I’d have to add this to the growing list of reasons that I loved having Ben living with us.

After a moment of glaring at me, Emily flopped onto her back with a shriek, “I DIDN’T NEED A NAP!” 

“Emily Anne,” I hissed, furious. I knew she would be in a bad mood when she woke up, but that was not okay. Ben was whining a little, rubbing at his eyes and apparently trying to burrow into me. “It’s okay, peanut,” I soothed, rubbing his back with one hand while I pointed at the corner with my other, “Time out, Emily Anne. This minute. I don’t want to hear any arguments.”

Predictably, she pouted her way over to the corner, unwilling to go quietly. After listening to her sigh and wordlessly whine for about thirty seconds, I said, “I can’t spank your bottom right now, Emily Anne, but I’m sure I can come up with another punishment if you need me to. Maybe a night of sitting at the table and writing lines for me would help.”

She quieted then, which gave me time to help Ben. He had finally woken up fully, and he was staring at Emily’s back, clearly confused and concerned.

“She’s fine, peanut,” I murmured. “She’s was just being a crab when she woke up. Em’ll stay in time out for a little bit, then we’ll go and get some lunch. How does that sound?”

“‘m hungry,” he admitted.

“Let’s clean up then, so that we can leave when Emily’s calmed herself down and is ready to behave herself,” I suggested, helping him to stand. 

I folded the blanket as Ben went over to the floor and began putting toys away. He was his usual methodical self, and he’d soon tidied away the office toys as well as repacking Emily’s bag. 

After her little tantrum, Em was back to her usual self as well. Shifting restlessly, she clearly wanted out of time out. Knowing her, I figured that she was probably feeling guiltier than was necessary.

“Come ‘ere, baby,” I instructed, sitting back down at my desk chair and holding out a hand.

Emily avoided eye contact as she walked to me. She curled onto my lap and hid her face in my neck with a muffled, “Sorry.”

“I want you to apologize to Ben please,” I murmured. “He’s the one you woke up.”

She whined a little at that, but I forced her up and she said, “I’m sorry I woke you up, Ben.”

Ben was seated on the couch, trying to watch without me noticing, and he nodded, “‘s’okay. Can we get lunch now?”

Although I wasn’t sure that letting them both effectively ignore what had happened was the best course of action, I was hungry too. It wasn’t worth the battle today, and I simply nodded.

Emily stood and raced to the door, and we all walked out to my car. We had to get lunch, and then we’d need to shop, and I was thinking that it was going to be plenty stressful.

Emily’s POV

“Where are we going to lunch?” I asked, settling into the front seat.

“Ben?” Daddy prompted.

Ben was sitting by himself in the back, and he didn’t say anything. When I turned to look at him, he shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“What’re you in the mood for? We have to go to the mall, so there’s places there.”

Daddy interrupted, “Ben, it’s your turn to pick, peanut.”

“I don’t know,” Ben told him, sounding panicked.

Keeping his voice very calm, he said, “You don’t have to pick a restaurant if you don’t want to, but what would you like to eat? Do you want a grilled cheese sandwich? Kung pao chicken? Pizza? Tacos?”

“I like tacos,” Ben offered.

“Alright, Mexican food it is,” Daddy said. “We’ll stop at the restaurant by the mall and have some lunch before we go and shop. Does that sound okay?”

Ben nodded, and Daddy reminded, “I need to hear your voice, peanut.”

“Okay,” Ben whispered.

The ride to the restaurant was mostly silent. Midway there, I turned on the radio. It was disconcerting, the way we could all sit together with nobody talking. It’d never bothered me when it was just Daddy and me, but with Ben, it got weird.

He was still quiet in the restaurant, although he managed to order his food without any real problems. Back in the car, he started to talk.

“I really don’t need to shop,” he tried. 

“Ben, honey, we talked about this,” Daddy reminded. “You need stuff to wear.”

“Maybe we could go to Salvation Army or something,” Ben suggested.

“No,” I told him, turning around in the seat to stare. “Abs’lutely not.”

“Turn, Emily,” Daddy lectured, grabbing my arm. “The seatbelt can’t keep you safe if you’re twisted like that.”

“But Daddy! The Salvation Army! They’re awful! They discriminate against the LGBT community, Ben,” I explained, turning back around. “That’s you. You shouldn’t give them your money.”

“Technically, ‘m givin’ ‘em your money,” he grumbled.

“Emily Anne, I’m not telling you again,” Daddy growled at me.

I slammed my back against the seat, irritated. This was supposed to be a fun day. We were supposed to be shopping and having a good time, and Ben was ruining everything.

Matt’s POV

“This sucks.”

“I don’t need clothes.”

Surround sound complaints, and neither of them would stop.

“Enough,” I told them both. “That’s enough. Emily, can the attitude. Ben, you can be pissed off about shopping, but you need clothes. I can’t let you run around naked. We’re going to go shopping, and we’re going to have a nice time. Or so help me, we’re going to be going home, and you’re both going to spend the evening writing me lines.”

I was maybe a little irritated and tired, but all of that drained out of me when I heard the quiet sounds of Ben beginning to cry, and my wife gave me the dirtiest look I’d ever seen.

“Matthew Joshua,” she hissed. “What is wrong with you?”

That made Ben cry harder, and she ordered, “Pull over or something.”

I didn’t bother to insist upon polite words, doing as she asked. She immediately unbuckled, climbing through the gap between the seats and huddling next to Ben.

“s’okay, Ben,” she murmured. “It’s okay. Don’t cry. Don’t be sad.”

“Made him mad,” came the muffled reply.

Emily pulled Ben to her, hugging him tightly as she fiercely whispered, “So what? He didn’t like what you did. ‘s’not the end of the world. I don’t like what he just did.”

I was a shit, and I said from the front, “I’m sorry, Ben. I overreacted. It was hard to have you both not listening at the same time, and I just wanted you to stop, but I shouldn’t have said that stuff.”

“It’s okay,” Ben told me, peeking up. “You’re the daddy.”

I sighed, turning off the car and getting out so that I could climb in beside the two of them in the backseat.

“It’s not okay,” I reminded. “Just because I’m the grown up doesn’t mean that I get to use mean words. If anything, it means I need to be more careful because I am supposed to be in charge. I’m really sorry.”

“Sorry I was bein’ dis’bedient,” he mumbled to me, allowing me to join in on the hug.

“You weren’t, peanut. You’re nervous about shopping, and that’s okay. We need to do it, but I’m sorry that it makes you upset, and I wish that I had another solution.”

“Sorry I was bossin’,” Emily interjected. 

We stayed all hugged together for a minute, before I straightened, “Okay, we’re all sorry. We’re going to try harder at the mall, deal? Em, you need to listen and not try to tell Ben what to do please, and Ben, I need you to try on clothes and help us figure out what you need. And I’m not going to lose my temper again.”

“Okay,” Ben told me.

I nodded, sliding back out of the backseat and getting in front, “Everyone buckle,” I reminded, as I turned the car back on and started toward the mall. 

Ben’s POV

I’d made Uncle Matt mad. It didn’t matter what Emily said. I didn’t understand why he let her act that way, but I knew that she was his. And they were married. I was just a visitor, maybe a little bit family, and I couldn’t be bad like Emily could.

Resolving to behave, I was quiet the rest of the way to the mall. We had to shop, and I’d just do what I was told. I knew how to do that.

Once we got to the mall, Uncle Matt drove around the parking lot a little bit, looking for a spot. Emily was getting irritated with him.

“Just park there,” she pointed. “We can walk. It’s nice out.”

“I don’t want you both walking too much right now. Remember? Aunt Sarah told you that you needed to take it easy,” he told her. “And I’d like you to use your nice words, please.”

“What’s not nice?”

“Please and thank you, Emily Anne.”

“Please can we park there,” she asked.

“No we can’t, baby, but thank you for using your manners,” he replied, smiling, as he turned into a much closer spot. He waited to ask the question until we were out. “Where to first, Ben?”

I really didn’t know, but I wanted to know. Looking desperately at Emily, I silently begged her to tell me where I was supposed to want to go.

“Macys, Daddy,” she decreed. “There’s lots of stuff at Macys, and Ben needs jammies and underwear and shoes.”

I gave her a grateful look, and she slipped her hand into mine, tugging me toward the mall. “Do you want to look at Gap?” she asked quietly. “Daddy likes Gap. And Banana Republic.”

“‘k,” I told her.

Uncle Matt was following along behind us, and I felt a little bit bad that he was being left out. But maybe he liked that Emily and I were holding hands? I couldn’t tell.

I just wanted to be good, but they made things very confusing and complicated. 

Matt’s POV

Other people would probably say that things were going well at the mall. Ben was polite, as always, and he tried on just about everything that anyone suggested.

That was really the problem though. He wouldn’t pick anything. If I suggested something, he tried it on. If Emily suggested something, he tried it on. He agreed to anything we said he looked nice in.

It was like he had no preference. He’d buy cords, khakis, or jeans. He didn’t care about the cut of the pants. He didn’t seem to mind the color or the fabric, and he had no preference as far as whether he wanted long sleeve or short sleeve shirts. He couldn’t even tell me what kind of underwear he liked to wear.

Finally, while he was in the bathroom, I pulled Emily to sit beside me, explaining, “I want Ben to pick out his own shoes. We’re going to set him loose in the shoe department, and I’m going to tell him that he needs a pair of sneakers and a pair of not sneakers. Other than that, it’s entirely up to him.”

“I like dressing Ben though, Daddy,” Emily complained. “s’like a Barbie.”

“No,” I said, kind of appalled. “He’s like a person, Emily Anne. And he needs to learn to make choices and figure out what he likes. We can start small with the shoes.”

“But I like helping him.”

I shook my head, “He’s not a toy or a pet, baby. He’s a person. Will you please trust me?”

“Fine,” she sighed, leaning against me. “‘s’not fair.”

“That’s my good girl,” I praised.

“If I can’t help him pick out shoes, I probably need a distraction,” she explained, looking at me sideways. “Like maybe I should do a little shopping...”

I rolled my eyes. Em in a mall was a dangerous and terrifying idea, but it would keep her occupied. Nodding, I asked, “Where do you need to go, baby?”

“Maybe a little Sephora. And I should go look at those dresses at J. Crew. And I need new pajamas.”

“Alright, you know your budget,” I agreed, helping her to stand.

“And a victory lap around the bookstore?” she asked hopefully.

“Wait for Ben and I to do that,” I smiled. “We’ll meet you at Barnes & Noble in an hour?”

“‘k, Daddy,” she grinned back at me, leaning down for a kiss before darting off into the mall.

She was so happy. I’d have to remember to call Sarah about going and doing stuff. Em loved to shop and go to get her nails done or her hair cut. With Ben at home, she probably needed to get out and relax without worrying about him.

When Ben came out of the bathroom, he looked around before asking worriedly, “Where’s Em’ly?”

“She went to look at makeup and sundresses, honey,” I said easily. “It’s just us for jammies and shoes. I told her we’d meet her at the bookstore in an hour.”

Standing, I grabbed his hand and started toward the mall, surprised when he pulled away from me.

“Ben? What’s wrong?”

He was staring at the ground, arms wrapped around his torso, and he explained quietly, “You shouldn’t hold my hand. People might think you’re gay.”

“So?” I laughed.

“So, you’re not,” he told me, drawing even further away and sitting back down in the little alcove.

I sat back beside him, speaking quietly, “No, but it wouldn’t matter if people thought I was.”

“They might get mad.”

“Maybe, but that’s not my concern. I can’t control how people feel,” I told him gently.

“But you don’t like boys.”

“You know my little before Em?” I asked. “The one that liked when I’d give him baths? He liked cuddles too, and chocolate ice cream.”

He nodded, looking confused.

“His name was Gabe,” I continued, in case he hadn’t picked up on “he” and “him”.

Looking up at me, Ben’s face was absolutely horrified, “What?”

“Before Emily, I dated Gabe. And before Gabe, I dated Andy. My high school girlfriend’s name was Christy. I do like boys. And even if I didn’t, it wouldn’t be a big deal if people thought I did. I don’t care.”

“Really? How come you married Emily?”

I shrugged, standing up and reaching for his hand, “It’s a story. How about we walk and I’ll tell you?”

That got a nod, and he joined me. As we walked to the next store, I relayed the story of how I met Emily.

“So I was in my office, and it’s my first day doing therapy. And Emily walked in,” I started. “She was even skinnier than she is now, less than 80 pounds, and she was wearing long sleeves even though it was about 90 degrees out.”

“Why?” he asked curiously.

“Because her arms were all cut up. And because anorectics are cold all the time,” I explained quietly.

He nodded, looking concerned, and I wrapped an arm around his shoulder to give him a little hug.

“Anyway, so the pissed off little girl walks into my office, and even though she’s got a lot to work on, all I can pay attention to is how much I’d rather be sitting across a table and eating dinner. Which would have been awkward and awful because of the whole eating disorder thing, but she was really funny and smart, and she was super sarcastic. Kind of the way she is now, but she was a lot angrier then too.”

“You liked her right away?”

I nodded, “I loved her. She was great. And that’s against the rules. Therapists can’t date their clients. So, I handed her off to another grad student, and I figured I’d never see her again.”

We were at the shoe department, and I carefully steered him around, encouraging him to pick out some things to try on.

“But how did you see her again?” he asked, unable to focus.

“Tell you what,” I bargained. “You pick out two pairs of shoes that you want, and you need at least five sets of jammies, and then we can go wait for Em at the bookstore, and I’ll tell you the rest of the story.”

“‘k,” Ben eagerly agreed, suddenly more motivated to find clothing than I’d seen him all day.

Mac’s POV

Just about everyone had left. The nursery was almost done. Frankie was painting trees on one of the wall, and as soon as she was done, Sarah, Michael, and I were going to move everything.

Sarah had gently encouraged me down the stairs. Michael had abandoned us some time earlier, and she explained that she wanted to check on him. Once she found him in the playroom, completely involved in whatever he was doing with LEGOS.

“Do you want a beer?” she offered, going through the fridge.

“Come here often?” I joked.

She shrugged, grabbing one for herself as well, “Matt and I met in college, at a random munch. I think we were both hoping that the other wanted to be little. Once we realized that wasn’t going to happen, we just became friends.”

Settling onto the stool next to mine, she asked, “Do you know what the best part of having other mommies and daddies around is?”

“No?” I laughed, not sure what she was getting at.

“Someone can tell you if they think that you’re doing something wrong,” she explained gently. “Frankie’s pretty upset.”

I sighed, not sure of how to respond to that. I was used to making decisions with Frankie, not with other random people who were not my wife.

“Look,” she continued, “she’s having a rough time, and I offered to take her with me when I go get my nails done. I think she just needs some grown up time, and I figured she probably hasn’t had a chance to make many friends since she works from home.”

I really didn’t know what to say. Sarah clearly had the best of intentions, so I nodded, “Great.”

“She just wants some adult time,” Sarah repeated.

“Okay,” I nodded again. Wanting to extricate myself from what was possibly the most awkward conversation I’d ever had, I excused myself, “Speaking of my wife, I’m going to go and check on her.”

I went back upstairs, thinking about what Sarah had told me. I wanted Frankie to be happy, and I knew she was having a hard time.

Leaning in the doorway of the nursery, I watched her standing on the stepstool, reaching and moving around to finish up the murals.

“Almost done, missy?” I asked.

She turned with a grin, “Uh huh. It’s going to look really nice.”

“It looks beautiful, birdy,” I praised, coming up behind her and hugging around her hips. “Ben’s going to love it.”

She didn’t respond to that part, telling me, “As long as we’re careful, I think we can bring everything else in. There’s books and some art, and the bedding and stuff.”

“Okay,” I replied, lifting her down from the stepladder. “Clean this up first?”

Frankie didn’t waste a minute. We’d already cleaned up the paint pans and the rollers, but the room was still covered with drop cloths, and we had the remaining paint supplies for the trees as well.

“If you go and get Sarah and Michael, you can start with that stuff?” she suggested, tidying the room quickly and thoroughly. “There should be a vacuum in the hall closet, and I want to vacuum after everything’s in.”

“Please, Papa?” I prompted. I’d noticed from our time around everyone else that Frankie didn’t act like them. Not that I wanted her to, but maybe she’d have an easier time fitting in.

She was bent over, but I could practically hear her rolling her eyes when she said, “Please, Papa, could you get Sarah and Michael to help you move stuff since we have about 45 minutes to finish this all up?”

I took the oh so subtle hint, jogging down the stairs and asking for help so we could put things back together. I was guessing that a surprise nursery would be better than a surprise mess of nursery stuff all over the house still.

Frankie’s POV

I wasn’t sure what had sparked Papa’s weird behavior in the nursery, but I was guessing that Sarah had something to do with it. 

Sarah was actually okay. She didn’t insist that I refer to her as “Aunt Sarah” like Charlotte did, and she didn’t act like she was allowed to tell me what to do. And I did like the idea of going and getting a manicure and a pedicure. Plus, I’d been looking for a place to get my hair cut, and Sarah might be able to make a recommendation.

I put that thought out of my mind. We had to finish what we’d started. I wanted to see the fruits of my labor, even if I didn’t get to see Ben’s initial reaction. 

Even without music, it was like a crazy montage from an old movie. And since everyone else had left, it was actually kind of fun.

Sarah helped me make up the crib, complete with a ludicrous number of pillows and a stuffed dragon, not to mention sheets that were probably the softest thing I’d ever felt. 

Emily had wanted to hang drapes in front of the crib, which actually ended up looking pretty cool once Papa got the hardware up. I could see how that would be nice for Ben. With the light fixtures on the walls, Ben could curl up inside for privacy.

We hung art and put books away, along with a few pieces that I’d bought for the open shelves. Throwing a blanket over the back of the the newly reupholstered chair, and settling the stuffed owl I found, the room looked nice. If you ignored the fact that the dresser and the closet were empty, the nursery looked like someone lived in it.

And with 15 minutes to spare, I put the vacuum away, and we packed up to leave. I wished I could see Ben’s face when he saw the new nursery, but I knew he’d like it.

Ben’s POV

I don’t know if it was because Emily was someplace else, or if it was because I wanted to hear the rest of Uncle Matt’s story, but finding shoes was easy.

“Which ones do you like, sweetpea?” Uncle Matt asked, allowing me to wander around.

I tentatively picked up a pair of Converses. They were kind of like the ones that Em was wearing, high tops, except hers were hot pink, and these were bright green.

“These?”

“Those are nice,” he agreed. “You should try them on.”

He got me settled in a chair, and a salesman came over to measure my feet and go and get the shoes. 

Uncle Matt said something to him that I didn’t hear, and when the salesman got back, he was carrying a whole stack of boxes.

“Can I help you gentlemen with anything else?” he asked.

“No thank you,” Uncle Matt smiled. “We’ll let you know if we need anything in a bit.”

“That’s a lot of shoes,” I told Uncle Matt.

He nodded, “Yup. I know you like the green, and I thought the blue were kind of nice too. I had them pull some dressier shoes in case we go to get dinner or something.”

I wasn’t sure if that meant I was supposed to like the blue too, but I resolved to try them on. If Uncle Matt liked them better, that was fine. I didn’t really care. I just liked the way he looked when he was happy.

Seven pairs of shoes later, I had no idea which kinds to get, and I was kind of wishing that Emily was here to tell me what Uncle Matt wanted me to get.

“I like the blue,” I told him slowly, hoping that was the right answer.

Uncle Matt nodded, “Which of the nice shoes, sweetpea?”

I randomly picked out a pair. Black oxfords. Uncle Matt had said something about having a pair like them in college.

“Good boy,” Uncle Matt praised, putting shoes away. “Can you go and look at jammies in that section?” he pointed. “I’m just going to buy these.”

“Okay,” I agreed. 

I wandered over to look at things. I didn’t care. I hadn’t picked out my own pajamas...ever? I’d lived at home, and my pajamas were hand me downs, then pajamas hadn’t been that important because I couldn’t afford anything. David hadn’t liked me wearing them.

It seemed like Emily liked them though. She had tons of jammies. I randomly selected half a dozen sets, thrusting them at Uncle Matt when he got there.

“These?”

“Okay, Ben,” he agreed, flipping through them. “These are the ones you want?”

“I don’t care,” I explained.

He didn’t say anything to that, carrying the pajamas over to the register and paying for them, adding that bag to the ones we were already carrying.

“Let’s take these to the car,” he suggested.

We’d already done that once. Emily and I had stayed inside, but Uncle Matt had gone, and I wasn’t sure why we needed to do it again. All we had left was the bookstore.

Nonetheless, I followed him out to the car, putting the bags in the already packed trunk. Uncle Matt took my hand once they were stowed away, pulling me in for a hug.

“You were such a good boy for me,” he praised. “Shall we go and get some books?”

That sounded like a great idea, and I nodded, “Uh huh.”

As we walked to the bookstore, Uncle Matt told me more about meeting Emily. It made it hard to not get mad at Emily. She’d just fallen into having a great daddy. It didn’t seem fair. 

“I couldn’t stop running into her,” he explained. “The bookstore, the coffee shop....every time I turned around, she was there. She even lived in my roommate’s little sister’s dorm.”

That was when Emily showed up for real, interrupting the end of the story, and I understood why Uncle Matt had decided to take bags out to the car.

“Emily Anne,” Uncle Matt laughed. “What about your budget?”

“My budget is only for me, and some of this stuff is not for me,” she explained airily. “Books now?”

“Lush?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “You didn’t mention Lush.”

She shrugged, grinning at him, “That’s like, 80% Ben. Maybe 90%. I just bought myself two bath bombs, and they’re seasonal, Daddy. You can’t not buy seasonal. The rest is all Ben. Come on, Daddy. We need to support the bookstore. What with Amazon and all?”

“Books,” he rolled his eyes, ushering us into the store.

I had thought they might buy me a book or two. I knew they liked books; their house was full of them. And they were clearly generous. I didn’t expect Uncle Matt and Emily to add every book I looked at to an ever growing stack.

We browsed for a whole hour, and even though I felt guilty about all the books they were buying, I was kind of in heaven. David never wanted to spend this kind of time in bookstores, and I had never had the money to buy anywhere near this many books for myself. The closest I’d come was hanging out in the library, and David normally only let me do that for 30 minutes at a time.

“I’m hungry, Daddy,” Emily finally said.

Uncle Matt nodded, starting toward the cash register, “Let’s go home and eat then. I’m starved. We got a lot done though.”

Emily agreed, and we followed along behind him, carrying along our part of the bounty. Once they were successfully settled on the counter though, Emily grinned widely.

“Dinner at home sounds great, but ‘m really thirsty,” she told him.

“Go on. No caffeine and nothing diet. Get me a decaf cafe au lait please,” he waved us off, and Emily half dragged me to buy drinks before I could say anything.

“I’d like a grande decaf cafe au lait, a passion fruit iced tea lemonade, and...” she looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

I didn’t know. David never bought me anything like this. He said it was a waste of money. Quickly scanning the menu, I said, “Another iced tea lemonade.”

“Passion fruit?” the barista asked.

“Yes please.”

When Uncle Matt got over to Starbucks, he took his cafe au lait, then hurriedly ushered us out to the car.

“You look exhausted,” he commented, actually buckling my seatbelt.

I nodded, sipping at the drink. It tasted pretty good. Uncle Matt ruffled my curls, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek before he shut the door. 

As he climbed into his own seat, he added, “It’s going to be dinner, then bath time, and then we’re doing something quiet, you two.”

That sounded nice, and I didn’t complain. Resting my cheek against the car window, I let myself daydream until we pulled into the driveway at home.

Matt’s POV

Now that we were back home, the idea of the new nursery was making me worried. I knew that it would look good. Mac’s work was all over the community, and it was good. 

I was more concerned that I’d let Emily convince me that this would be a good thing when it was really a thing that would overwhelm Ben.

I inhaled deeply. There was nothing left to do but go inside. It wasn’t like we could un-redo the nursery.

“Let’s get the bags inside,” I directed, opening the trunk, and handing packages to both of them. “Just drop them in the living room, guys. We’ve gotta wash everything anyway.”

Emily and Ben started into the house, Em chattering away about something as I followed along behind them. It took two trips to get everything inside, and we still had to cut tags off of everything, wash it, fold it, and put stuff away.

Sinking down onto the couch, I gave myself a minute to consider dinner. I really didn’t feel like cooking anything, but I didn’t want to order anything in either. We needed to get back into our regular routine before I went back to work on Monday, and that included cooking our own food.

“Daddy,” Emily was pulling on me, “Let’s put stuff away.”

I shook my head, “No, baby. We’ve gotta make something for dinner. Any votes?”

Ben was kneeling on the floor, staring at all of the stuff that we’d bought, and he looked totally overwhelmed and completely incapable of making any more decisions today. Emily was staring down at me, hands on her hips, clearly ready for an argument about going up to the nursery.

“Let’s check out what’s in the kitchen,” I suggested, standing up before Emily could mount her case. Grabbing her hand, I tugged her along behind me, saying, “Ben, honey, you too.”

He silently followed along, settling down in the chair that he liked, watching as I pulled open the refrigerator door. And found food. That was not our food.

Pulling out a pan, I plucked the note from the top, reading, “Figured you guys wouldn’t be up for cooking anything. Heat at 350 until the cheese bubbles. We stashed the bread and some dessert in the oven for safekeeping. Hope you had a productive trip, love C and L. PS, don’t worry about vegetables; they’re in the entree.”

“Is it lasagna?” Emily asked, tugging at my arm. 

I didn’t blame her excitement. Charlotte’s lasagna was amazing, an old family recipe that she’d learned from her grandmother and refused to share with anyone. Lifting the casserole dish, I removed foil and shook my head.

“Sorry, baby. It looks like ravioli?”

“That’s good too,” she smiled. “Lucy brings it to daycare sometimes. I tried it.”

“So it meets your standards?” I teased.

“Put it in the oven. I’m starving,” she ordered, adding in a “Please,” when I gave her a look.

I was hungry too, so I quickly pulled out the food in the oven, setting it to preheat after I put the bread and cookies on the table and smacked the back of Emily’s hand.

“Not until after dinner,” I reprimanded. “Set the table please, Em.”

“Can’t we just eat in the playroom?” she begged, distracted from the nursery.

I shook my head, thinking about our routine and how much we’d deviated since Ben got here. “No,” I told her calmly. “We eat at a table, which we set, please. Plates, napkins, and forks, baby.”

“And a knife for the butter and the butter and bread and drinks. I know,” she sighed, going over to cabinets and pulling down plates.

Ben started to get up, but I shook my head and pointed at him, “You stay there. You need to take it easy.”

It was nice to tell someone to do something without an argument. Ben settled back into the chair, watching as Emily and I pulled dinner together. Thanks to Charlotte, it only took 15 minutes, and we were settled at the table, eating.

It wasn’t her lasagna, but it was amazingly good. Other than murmuring something about needing to see if she’d give me this recipe, our meal was only interrupted by the sounds of our forks against our plates.

Eating made the nursery seem like a good idea again, and even if it wasn’t, there was nothing I could do about it now. I did insist upon washing up from dinner, but then I amicably followed Emily and Ben upstairs as she told him that she had a surprise for him.

“Cover your eyes,” she ordered, once we were at the top of the stairs.

Instantly suspicious, he asked, “Why?”

“Just do it,” she ordered.

“Emily.”

She sighed, “So the surprise is a surprise, Ben. Please?”

He complied, and she guided him down the hallway, throwing open the door to the nursery and walking him inside.

“You can look,” she finally said, after she’d stared for a moment.

Ben’s hands dropped, and his eyes instantly widened before flooding with tears. I wasn’t sure if they were happy tears or not, and I started talking.

“We’ve been talking about redoing it since we moved in, and we figured that you being here was a good excuse. Do you like it?”

Still silent, Ben walked slowly over to the new drapes, gently fingering them from where they were hooked open to display the crib. He ran a soft hand over the linens, stroking them for a moment before picking up the dragon.

Ben’s POV

“Ben?” Emily’s voice interrupted my rapid thoughts, and I turned to look at them both.

“Why?” I stopped, my throat thick with tears. Swallowing hard, I continued, “Why did you do this?”

“We wanted you to like it,” Emily smiled. “You like it, right?”

I didn’t know what to say. She was so happy. She was just smiling at me, like I was supposed to be thrilled. Why? Just because they were showing me all this stuff? It was great. They had a great life. They could go shopping, and they had nice dinners, and they were used to everything being perfect. That wasn’t the way the world worked for people like me.

As I thought about how easy Emily I had, I got madder and madder, and I couldn’t stop myself. I threw the dragon as hard as I could, aiming at Emily, as I screamed, “I HATE YOU.”

Emily stepped back, bumping into Uncle Matt’s chest before she burst into tears. I didn’t feel badly for her though. She was awful, just showing me all this stuff that she took for granted. She wasn’t even good. She didn’t even deserve it.

Uncle Matt hugged her, rubbing her back and murmuring something in her ear. After a moment, he released her, and she left. I could hear their bedroom door close behind her.

“You can go,” I spat. “Might as well take care of Emily.”

He stared at me for a minute, and I grabbed a nearby book, throwing it at his head, “I SAID GET OUT.”

“Whoa,” he responded, ducking easily and then crossing the room in several steps. He grabbed me, pulling my back to rest against his chest.

“It’s okay, Ben,” he murmured, holding my arms tightly.

I kept screaming, although I was so angry that I couldn’t even think of what I wanted to say to him. Thrashing wildly, I tried to get away from him, but he wouldn’t let go.

“It’s okay,” he repeated, sitting down in the chair without letting me go. “We’re going to sit here a minute until you’re calm.”

Matt’s POV

I had seen the look of panic in his eyes, and I wasn’t surprised by his outburst. I was surprised by how long he went on.

At one point, Emily poked her head around the edge of the doorway, and I smiled briefly at her, “We’re fine,” I told her.

She looked upset, and I wished that I’d told her to go someplace else. She could have gone over to Sarah’s for a while. Ben wouldn’t stop crying and yelling.

“Can I go see Aunt Sarah?” she asked.

I nodded, glad that she’d had the same idea. I needed her out of the house, and I knew Sarah and Michael could keep her entertained.

“Ben,” I told him firmly, once I heard the front door slam, “I understand that you’re upset, but I need you to calm down so we can talk about why.”

“I HATE YOU,” he managed to responded, focusing for a moment.

I nodded, “That’s fine. Let me know when you’re calm enough for me to let you go, sweetheart.”

“I’M NOT YOUR FUCKING SWEETHEART.”

That was a surprise. I don’t think I’d heard him curse ever, and I was at a loss. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to get me to punish him or throw him out, or if he was genuinely so upset that he couldn’t control himself at all.

Deciding to focus on things that I knew, I told him, “I know you’ve got some big feelings right now, and I want to help you with them. But this behavior is not okay, Ben.”

He continued screaming for a while, finally stopping when his throat sounded raw. I held him for a few more minutes, finally releasing him when it became obvious that he was definitely done.

Whether he was done with his tantrum or not, he was definitely done with me, and he moved away from me as soon as he could. Climbing into the crib, he hugged himself tightly, still glaring at me.

“Why did you let her do that?” he croaked.

I sighed, “Oh, Ben, honey, she just wanted to make you feel welcome. I’m sorry. I should have told her no.”

“Welcome?” he laughed, and it was obvious that he didn’t find any of this funny. “She has everything. Everything. How would seeing stuff that I can never have make me feel welcome?”

This was awful, and I was questioning every decision I’d made since we’d invited Ben to stay with us. I wanted to tell him that he could have nice things now, but I couldn’t do that. After tonight, I wasn’t even sure if we could continue to offer him a place to stay. Emily had been upset, and I wasn’t going to risk her sense of stability for Ben. As much as I liked him, Emily was my wife and my little girl, and I had to put her needs first.

He laughed again, asking, “What? No answer? Did you forget that not everyone gets to live like this? You and Emily-” he swallowed hard, “you have it so damn easy, and you never even knew that, did you?”

“Ben,” I repeated uselessly.

“Get out,” he told me. “Just go.”

“No.”

He laid down then, curling his body up, the anger draining out of him. He looked completely exhausted, the kind of bone tired that no amount of sleep could fix.

“It’s not fair,” he whispered. 

This, I knew how to handle. Standing, I walked over to the crib and sat down on the side, reaching out to stroke his hair. He broke my heart a little bit more when he jerked away from my hand, but I forced myself to card my fingers through his curls.

“It is not fair,” I agreed. “It sucks, and I am so sorry that all of this bad stuff has happened to you, sweetheart. So, so, sorry. You didn’t deserve any of it. You are a good little boy, and you should have always had a house where you feel safe, with a daddy who loves you.”

“That’s not how things are,” he replied.

“Not right now,” I nodded. “Right now, you have a house where you can be safe, and you have an Emily and an Uncle Matt who love you. And you still have an awful lot of bad things that have happened, but that bad stuff is done now. You’re safe.”

Sarah’s POV

I was washing up the dinner dishes, and Michael was sprawled on his stomach in the living room, playing with his cars, when the doorbell rang.

I sighed. It was supposed to be an early night. Everything had been busy and stressful lately, and I wasn’t handling it any better than anyone else. I’d given Michael his bath and put him into pajamas before I ever made us dinner. I had been looking forward to some playtime with my baby before lullabies, bottle, and bedtime.

“Mommy,” Michael called from the living room. When I didn’t automatically respond, too busy trying to wish the visitor away, he yelled again, “MOMMY! DOOR!”

“Alright,” I called to him, wiping my hands off with a dish towel before I stalked out to the front door.

Any irritation that I was feeling fled the moment I saw Em’s face. She’d clearly been crying, and she practically flung herself at me.

“Em? Honey? What’s wrong? Where’s Daddy?” I asked, automatically rubbing her back and hugging her.

“With Ben,” she sobbed.

My eyes widened. Matt was monogamous. Their relationship was monogamous. That was their agreement.

“Did he-”

She stood up, wiping at her streaming eyes, as she interrupted, “Not like that. Ben’s upset.” Lip wobbling, she continued, “He said he hated me.”

“Why?”

Realizing that we were still standing in the doorway, I ushered her inside, leading her to the couch.

“Mikey, baby, can you get Emily a bottle of water for me please?” I asked.

He was such a good boy, scampering off to the kitchen and returning a moment later with the bottled water.

“I can go play in the playroom?” he suggested, uncomfortable with Emily’s tears.

I smiled at him, nodding, “That’s mommy’s good boy,” I praised.

As soon as he was gone, I asked her, “What happened?”

“I thought he would like it,” she told me sadly. 

“The nursery?” I asked gently, guessing at what had happened.

“He said he hates me. And he threw the dragon I bought him at my head, Aunt Sarah. He was so mad, and he’s yelling, and Daddy had to hold him because he was all out of control,” she explained in a rush.

“Oh, Em,” I soothed, “that must have been really hard.”

She sniffled, nodding, “I wanted him to like it at my house. I love Ben. And now he hates me, and I ruined everything.”

“Honey, I don’t think he hates you,” I explained. “I think he’s overwhelmed, and he’s taking it out on you. You’re being a really good friend; you aren’t doing anything wrong.”

“Daddy said don’t overwhelm him,” she whispered.

That made sense, but I figured that Matt probably should have pulled her back if he thought that was happening. 

“Em, this isn’t your fault,” I told her. 

“He was really upset.”

I nodded, “Ben’s had a rough couple of weeks, on top of what sounds like a really awful few years. It’s going to take him time.”

“I know. I just want him to feel better now,” she explained quietly.

“That’s very sweet, Em, but you can’t just fix this right away. He needs time.”

She nodded, taking a sip of water before she asked, “Can I hang out here for a while? Daddy’s busy with Ben; he’ll text you when everything’s okay.”

“Of course, sweetheart,” I reassured. 

“Michael needs you?” she asked, avoiding eye contact.

I shook my head, “Mikey’s playing by himself. He’ll come get me if he needs something.”

She nodded laying down and resting her head in my lap, yawning widely, “‘k.”

“You just relax,” I murmured, playing with her hair. We’d been friends long enough that I knew how much she loved that, and I figured that it would help her to calm down. Hopefully, she’d fall asleep.

Matt’s POV

It took a while, but Ben finally calmed down enough for us to talk. As much as I wanted to just let him sleep, I figured that the discussion would only get harder the longer we put it off.

“How’re you feeling?”

He stiffened. He’d migrated over to rest his head on my lap, and I kept combing through his curls, hoping it would keep him somewhat relaxed.

“‘m sorry,” he whispered.

I nodded, “I want you to tell Emily that. I understand that you were upset, but we don’t say things like ‘I hate you.’ That’s not okay. But we can worry about that later. I asked how you were feeling.”

“You gonna hit me?” 

I didn’t sigh. I really wanted to, but I forced it down, “No, honey. I’m not going to hit you. You don’t ever have to worry about that.”

That got a nod, and he corrected himself, “You gonna spank me?”

“No,” I responded. “I won’t spank you when you’re injured. Will you tell me how you’re doing now?”

“‘m real tired.”

“I know, sweetheart, but we need to talk about this.”

He sighed shakily, finally responding, “Bad.”

“You feel bad?” I parroted. 

He nodded, “I was mean to Em’ly, and she was trying to do something nice.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “I don’t think you were mean on purpose though. I think that you were having big feelings. I’m sorry. I should have thought more about how hard today was going to be for you. It was insensitive.”

He sat up at that, wincing a little as he shook his head, “I should be grateful. ‘m bein’ bad ‘gain. This is why Daddy had to be so strict. I don’t know how to behave.”

“Nope,” I corrected. “You’re not bad. And David wasn’t strict with you. He was abusive. It was not okay, Ben. I don’t care how you acted.”

“I yelled at Emily,” he argued.

“Yes, and that behavior is not okay,” I reiterated. “There are other ways for you to deal with big feelings. What should you have done instead?”

It was a trick question. I was completely unsurprised by him looking confused, although I was impressed that he tried to push through.

“I coulda...I coulda been appreciative,” he tried.

I couldn’t help but smile at that, as I explained, “Honey, nobody ever taught you how to deal with stuff like this. You avoid it, or you blow up. We’re going to work on that, but for tonight, you didn’t know better.”

“Em’ly prob’ly hates me,” he whispered, laying back down.

“That’s the nice thing about Emily,” I whispered back. “She can sometimes be a little bit insensitive because she gets so excited. Or she might overwhelm you. But she doesn’t hold a grudge.”

“She doesn’t hate me?” he asked, sounding totally amazed at the concept.

“Nope,” I told him. 

He lay still for a moment, before tentatively asking, “Then you hate me? I made her cry.”

“No, sweetheart,” I explained sadly. “I don’t hate you. We don’t hate each other in this family. We maybe don’t like choices or behavior, but we always love each other.”

He didn’t respond to that, and I let him wait for a few minutes before I asked, “And how are you feeling now?”

That got a little shrug, as he whispered, “I needa ‘pologize to Em. She was tryin’ to be nice.”

“That’s not a feeling,” I gently corrected.

He sighed heavily, shrugging again, “I don’t know.”

“Well, let’s see,” I pulled under his arms, getting him sitting up. With a little tickle, I said, “Are you happy?”

He giggled, pulling away and squirming, as he told me, “Nooooo.”

“Noooo?” I joked, continuing to tickle a bit. “So you’re not happy. Are you feeling excited? Sick? Nervous? Mad? Sad? Scared?”

“Yeah,” he agreed, finally begging, “Uncle Matt! Stop ticklin’!”

“Which one, sweetheart?” I asked, promptly stopping at poking his tummy and instead pulling him up to sit on my lap. “Which feeling?”

He was facing away from me so I couldn’t look into his eyes, but he answered me, “Scared,” nodding firmly. 

“Scared,” I repeated. “Do you know what you’re scared about?”

He shrugged, playing with my fingers as he whispered, “Mostly ‘bout what’s gon’ happen.”

“That’s scary,” I agreed.

“An’...an’ what ‘m ‘posed to be doin’, and what you an’ Em are gon’ do...you guys act funny. I don’t know what you’re gon’ do.”

“That would be scary,” I murmured, kissing his curls. “You’re safe now, peanut. You are safe here. And I know that things are changing really fast, but I promise that you are safe now. Nothing bad is going to happen to you in this house. What else?”

“What else what?”

“What other feelings?”

It took a while, but I finally got Ben to identify that he was scared, sad, and angry. None of it was really about Emily, and I was glad that he recognized that.

“Can I go ‘pologize to Em’ly now?”

“I’ll text Sarah and have her send Em back,” I murmured.

Emily’s POV

Aunt Sarah was really nice. Even though I didn’t really want a mommy, it could be a good change to have her mommying me. Plus, she knew when I needed a grown up, and when I just needed her. And, she was really good at playing with my hair. Almost as good as Daddy.

“Do you think I can go home?” I asked. I missed my daddy.

“Let’s wait until Matt calls, kiddo,” she suggested.

As if on cue, her phone buzzed with a text. After reading it, she smiled down at me, “You’re in luck, Em. Looks like everything’s clear. Let’s get you home.”

I stood up slowly, starting toward the door, and I was surprised when Aunt Sarah followed me. Glaring, I said, “I can do it by myself. ‘m fine.” Ben didn’t need an audience.

“I know, but I want to check in with Daddy,” she explained calmly. “Mikey,” she called, waiting till he showed up. “I need to run over to Em’s. Do you want to come?”

“‘m in my jammies,” he complained.

“So you’re going to stay?”

He nodded, and she instructed, “No snacks, bunny. Mommy’ll be back in five minutes.”

“‘k,” he agreed, quickly toddling back to his playroom.

Leaning into Aunt Sarah, we went back to my house. I raced up the stairs, eager to check on my Ben, but the minute I hit the nursery, I felt shy.

Daddy was laying in the crib with Ben, cuddling him, and I didn’t want to interrupt. Before I could sneak away, Daddy raised his head.

“I knew I heard you on the stairs,” he grinned.

“Hey, Matt. How’re things?” Aunt Sarah asked, standing behind me.

He smiled, looking tired, “We’re okay. Thank’s for keeping her for me.”

Ben had buried his face against Daddy, and I could tell he was embarrassed. As worried as I was about how he was going to respond, I shrugged out from under Aunt Sarah’s hands, going over to the crib and cuddling up so I could poke him.

“Hey,” I whispered, ignoring Daddy and Aunt Sarah. “You okay?”

He peeked at me, “‘m sorry.”

“‘s’okay,” I shrugged. “Sometimes I say stuff when ‘m upset.”

“I don’t hate you,” he whispered at me, avoiding eye contact.

“Just too big feelings,” I agreed, touching his hair. “I know. It’s okay, Ben.”

“Em, I need to talk to Aunt Sarah,” Daddy murmured, trying to get out of the crib. “Why don’t you get a drink?”

“I’ll stay with my Ben,” I waved at him, climbing back into the crib. “Shouldn’t be all alone when he’s got big sads, Daddy.”

Matt’s POV

I wasn’t sure that was a great idea, but Sarah took my arm, leading me out of the room, “They’ll be fine,” she told me. “We’ll be downstairs, Em. Holler if you need a grown up.”

Halfway down the hall, I heard Emily snort, telling Ben, “Like we need a grown up. They just don’t trust us, Ben.”

Sarah kept a tight grip on me, not letting me turn around, “They’re fine,” she repeated sternly. “She’s joking.”

“Ben doesn’t know how to take those jokes,” I tried to explain.

“Matt! Downstairs! Give them a minute!”

“Bossy,” I retorted, allowing her to steer me toward the couch. I sank down, looking at all of the bags with a groan. “Is she okay?”

Sarah nodded, “She’s worried about Ben. She’s upset that he didn’t like the surprise, but I think she’ll be fine. I’m thinking somebody needs to do something that doesn’t have anything to do with Ben, though.”

“I’m thinking she might need to do a lot of things without Ben,” I said quietly. “I don’t know if this was a good idea.”

I was expecting Sarah to agree with me. I thought she would help me come up with a better plan. I did not expect the response I got at all.

Smacking me on the arm, she lectured, “Don’t be a dick.”

“I can’t have him upsetting Emily,” I defended.

“Kicking him out is going to upset Emily more. She’s doing okay, Matt. She really is. Em isn’t the delicate flower you think she is, and it doesn’t help anybody to underestimate her.”

I sighed heavily, slumping against the back of the couch, admitting, “I don’t know what to do.”

“You know what Em would say,” Sarah shrugged.

“Love her.”

“Love her,” Sarah agreed. “Love him. You know what you’re doing, Matt.”

“Obviously,” I snorted, waving my hand at the pile of stuff. “I thought it was too much for him.”

“And it was.”

“So I don’t know what I’m doing,” I argued.

She rolled her eyes, “You know. You ignored what you knew. I’m guessing Miss Emily had something to do with that. And I’m thinking that Ben and Miss Emily would benefit from you being less of a buddy and more of a daddy.”

“I am,” I defended myself, hurt.

“You’re too nice,” she lectured. “They don’t need nice. They need to know what the rules are, and they need to know that you’ll enforce them.”

“I made Ben cry earlier,” I said softly, still embarrassed by my outburst.

“It sounds like he was out of control.”

I shook my head, “In the car. He was saying he didn’t want to shop, and Emily wouldn’t sit right, and I lost my temper.”

Before Sarah could respond to that, I heard the sounds of feet coming down the hallway, Emily’s voice soft and coaxing.

“Come on, Ben. You’re not in trouble,” she kept repeating. Finally, she stopped, calling, “Daddy! Tell Ben he can come downstairs.”

Sarah called back, “Are you asking or telling, little girl?”

“Asking,” Em yelled, sounding slightly belligerent. 

“That’s my point,” Sarah said, sotto voce. “I know that you like that she’s a little sassmouth, but things are too weird right now. Tightening up on the rules will help; it always does.”

Sarah was right, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, “Emily Anne,” I called, “we don’t talk to grown ups that way, please. If you’d like to try again, then we can discuss it.”

I couldn’t hear Emily’s sigh, or see her roll her eyes, but I was confident that she did both before yelling, “Please, Daddy, will you tell Ben that he’s not in trouble, and he can come downstairs so we can eat cookies? We never had dessert.”

“Ben, you’re not in trouble. Come on down and get a cookie, peanut.”

Emily’s POV

“Aunt Sarah’s bossin’ ‘gain,” I whispered to Ben, taking his hand firmly. “Let’s get cookies. Aunt Charlotte and Lucy make the best chocolate oatmeal cookies in the whole world. And Daddy will eat all of them if’n we don’t get our share quick.”

“He likes cookies?” Ben whispered, not pulling away from me.

“He’s a cookie monster,” I explained, leading him downstairs. “Don’t let him tell you I eat all the cookies. I don’t. Daddy eats ‘em all up, and there will be none left for us.”

Entering the living room, I informed Matt, “Me an’ Ben need cookies.”

“Two a piece,” he nodded. “What do you ask?”

“Aunt Sarah?” I smiled at her, “Would you like a cookie?” 

I didn’t really want to be sharing cookies with someone who was making my daddy be too bossy, but Matt had done this before. If I didn’t do what he asked, I’d probably lose out on my cookies.

“No thank you, Miss Emily,” Aunt Sarah returned. “I should get back to baby Michael. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Thanks, Sare,” Daddy told her, walking her to the door before he joined us in the kitchen. “Do I get a cookie?” he asked.

“That’s not how you ask,” I informed him.

Before I could put the cookies away, Daddy’s hands closed over mine, “And that’s not how you talk to grown ups, little girl,” he lectured.

I hated it when Daddy got like this. He’d decide to be strict for a little while, like the other daddies. It was annoying. 

“How come Em’ly’s gotta be p’lite if’n you don’t?” Ben asked, words muffled by the cookie he’d shoved in his mouth.

Ben’s POV

It didn’t make any sense. It seemed like Uncle Matt tried to make things as equal as possible. He kept telling me that grown ups should be respectful to us and not lose their tempers, but he hadn’t said please. 

Swinging my legs from my perch on the stool, I asked again, “Why, Uncle Matt? If’n Em’ly and I had to say please, why you don’t too?”

Uncle Matt gave me a look, and I thought that I should probably apologize. But I was supposed to ask questions if I didn’t understand. Em said so.

Before I could figure out if this was something I wasn’t supposed to say, Uncle Matt sighed and explained, “I do need to be polite, Ben, but Emily needs to be respectful.”

That didn’t make a lot of sense. At least, not since he normally let her be naughty. It didn’t seem like she was respecting him most of the time. Why wasn’t it respectful to remind him of something? It wasn’t any worse than anything else she did.

Before I could ask more questions, Uncle Matt rubbed his hands over his face, saying, “I need a quick run. I’ll be upstairs.”

“You don’t need the treadmill, Daddy,” Emily informed him. “We’ll be okay. We’ll eat our cookies, and then we’ll do something quiet and relaxing so that we’re all ready for bed.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

Emily put both of her hands on Matt’s back, pushing at him, “Go run outside. You haven’t been out since Ben got here. We’re fine, aren’t we, Ben?”

I nodded. Emily would answer my questions as soon as Uncle Matt left. She was good at doing stuff like that.

Uncle Matt looked at me for a minute, “Are you sure? It’s not a big deal; I can use the treadmill.”

“You hate it. Go on,” Emily ordered.

“Bossypants,” he retorted, turning to give her a quick kiss. “No more cookies. I’ll be back in less than 30 minutes. Get Aunt Charlotte if you need anything.”

“Bye, Daddy.”

“Bye, Uncle Matt,” I echoed.

Emily waited until he left the kitchen before sitting beside me and snitching another cookie from the plate.

“He said no more,” I whispered.

She grinned widely, mouth full of cookie, “He knows ‘m goin’ to take another one. He’s just trying to be like the other daddies. Here,” she said, handing over one.

Uncle Matt was only upstairs for a minute, and he didn’t come through the kitchen when he came back down. As soon as he went out the front door, Em held out her hand for me.

“Come on. Let’s go sit someplace more comfortable. Are you sore from shopping too much?”

I hadn’t really been thinking about it, but I was. Nodding, I told her, “That was lots of stuff.”

She grinned at me, leading out to the playroom, “I like to shop. You’re goin’ to have to build up your endurance so you can keep up.”

We settled down onto the couch, and I nibbled at the cookie she’d handed me. After a minute, Emily said, “‘m sorry ‘bout the nursery. Me an’ Daddy had talked about changing it because it was too much pink, and I figured that we could make it special for you, but it’s okay that you don’t like it so much.”

“I did,” I explained. “I-it’s too much, Em. I don’t want Uncle Matt to-I don’t want to be trouble for you.”

Emily’s POV

Daddy had tried to warn me about this, but I couldn’t believe that Ben would really think that he was trouble. I snuggled up against him; Ben liked to cuddle.

Hugging him, I said, “You’re not trouble, Ben. You’re fun, and you play games, and you make Daddy happy. An’ me too. I wanted you to have a special room because we like having you here. I want you to stay.”

He shook his head, “You just think that for now. You’ll see.”

“Why?” I challenged. “You goin’ to start doin’ somethin’ bad? Maybe you’re going to light the house on fire?”

“You aren’t going to want to share your daddy forever,” he told me quietly. “That’s okay, Em’ly. I like it here, but I-you don’t need to plan for forever. I just need a little bit of time.”

Ben was frustrating. So was Daddy sometimes. It was like they didn’t hear what I was trying to say. I didn’t want to upset Ben any more though, so I figured I’d let it go. I’d just make sure he was happy, and then eventually, he’d realize that he wanted to be here.

“Do you want to unpack your stuff? We could do laundry and put it away?” I suggested.

“Uncle Matt-” he stopped, not telling me what he’d been thinking.

“Daddy likes it when the house is clean,” I shrugged. “We both do. It’s nice to know where everything is, and it makes my asthma not so bad if it doesn’t get dusty.”

He didn’t say anything to that, so I slid down onto the floor and began unpacking bags, asking, “Can you get the scissors from the kitchen? They’re next to the stove, in the canister thing with the spoons and stuff.”

“Okay,” he mumbled, getting up from the couch. He returned quickly, handing the scissors over.

“Thank you,” I smiled briefly. Ben did better if he had something to do. Something concrete. I think Daddy had figured that out already. “You cut the tags off and pull of stickers, and I’ll sort?” I suggested, handing the scissors back.

In amiable silence, we went through bags and bags and bags of clothes. As the piles mounted, I started to understand why Ben was maybe overwhelmed.

“Why didn’t Uncle Matt answer my question earlier?” he asked, not looking at me.

“Which one?” I had stopped what I was doing so I could focus on Ben. Daddy was normally a pretty good question answerer. Sometimes, he’d tell me, ‘Later, Em,’ but he normally said something.

The tips of Ben’s ears were pink, as he answered, “About why he didn’t have to say please to get a cookie?” 

I waved that off, explaining, “Because he didn’t have a good answer. He is supposed to say please because I told him that it wasn’t fair for me to have rules if he didn’t. So he was embarrassed. And he was already embarrassed because he worries that he’s not a good daddy.”

“He’s the best daddy,” Ben defended loyally, adding, “You’re lucky.”

“I can share,” I shrugged. “He’s a good daddy. He’s fair, and he listens to me when I don’t like something. Just sometimes, he decides he’s going to be like the other mommies and daddies, and he gets stressed out, and it’s not so fun for a day or two. He never makes it more than 48 hours though.”

“I didn’t mean to embarrass him.”

“‘s’okay, Ben. Daddy makes mistakes. You gotta tell him when he does, otherwise he thinks it’s okay,” I patted his shoulder.

Matt’s POV

The run helped me to think. It always does. Tomorrow was Sunday, and I was thinking that maybe getting both of them out to the park would be a good idea. There was a track there, and I could run it while they played. Although maybe Em would want to run too.

Regardless of what we ended up doing, I resolved that I’d make sure to get at least three runs in this week. I felt free, and as I opened the front door, I realized that this next week would be better.

“Hi, guys,” I greeted, dropping onto the couch. 

Em had clearly organized the unpacking, eager as always to see what she’d purchased. She’d also married the clothes, tossing in her sundresses and tee shirts with Ben’s pajamas and jeans.

“I thought you were going to relax,” I chided gently.

Em bumped her shoulder against my knee, explaining, “Ben doesn’t have jammies for tonight, so I figured we’d wash them. It’s only seven now, so we’ll throw these in, and then we can do something else. You should take a shower; we’ll be done by the time you’re finished.”

“We all need to bathe,” I corrected her. “I’ll go first. Ben, do you want a bath or a shower?”

He was avoiding my eyes, but he answered, “I don’t think I can wash my hair yet.”

He seemed like he was moving around fine, but if he wanted me to give him a bath, that wasn’t a problem.

Dropping to my knees, I said, “Alright, then I’m going to go and shower. I want you and Em to get the first load of clothes in, and when I come down, you can take a bath, then it’s Em’s turn. Understand?”

He wouldn’t look at me, but he nodded, “Yes, Uncle Matt.”

“Good boy,” I praised, kissing the side of his face. “Ten minutes,” I told them both, before jogging up the stairs.

Ben’s POV

He was so casual about it, like kissing me wasn’t a big deal. I stole a glance at Emily, curious as to what she thought about it, but she was so focused on gathering up clothes that she didn’t seem to have even noticed.

“Come on,” she told me, standing up. “Let’s put these in the washer. Then we can put your shoes ‘way.”

Gathering the first load of laundry up, she led me back to the laundry room, boasting as we went, “I make our laundry soap. Daddy says I use Pinterest too much, but it’s super cheap, and I like it better. It doesn’t make me itch.”

“You can make laundry detergent?” I asked, curious. 

She nodded, opening up the washer and putting in soap, “Uh huh. People use too many chemicals, and they give you cancer and maybe superpowers that would make me an evil genius that would take over the world.”

“Nu uh,” I tried, uncertainly.

“You sound just like Daddy,” she lectured, closing the washer and starting it up. “Chemicals don’t give you cancer, and/or superpowers. Shots don’t hurt that much. There’s no international grown up conspiracy forcing us all to nap and eat celery.”

I giggled at that one, and she continued, “It’s not even food, Ben. Why do they think adding peanut butter makes it food?”

“Chemicals wouldn’t make you an evil genius,” I argued.

“Would too,” she insisted, walking back out to the living room. “I would probably need some type of pet for a sidekick. Maybe a squirrel. I’d name him Felipe Von Schnitzel.”

“Where would you get a squirrel?”

“I’d catch it. With mind control. Or telekenesis. Whatever I get. Do you know how to sew? Felipe will need clothes.”

“Lederhosen, probably. Plus, he’d need a sombrero,” Uncle Matt interrupted, coming down the steps. “Okay, Ben, you’re up.”

“Em said we should put my shoes away?” I said, gesturing at the bags.

“Em, baby, can I trust you to unpack shoes?”

She rolled her eyes, replying wryly, “No. I will be taken over by an inexplicable urge to wear men’s shoes that are at least two sizes too large. Then, I will light something on fire. And maybe join a cult. But only if they promise me Kool Aid.”

“Emily.”

“We’re still with strict, no fun, Daddy?” she asked innocently, “I thought you’d be gone by now.”

“Emily Anne,” Uncle Matt raised an eyebrow.

“I will unpack the shoes with the utmost seriousness and decorum,” she waved him away, standing back up when he grabbed her arm.

“Emily,” he repeated, waiting.

She sighed, saying, “I respect you as a disciplinarian, and I apologize for my jokes at your expense. I thought you would think they were funny, but clearly, I misjudged. My sincerest apologies.”

I didn’t think she sounded very sincere, but Uncle Matt simply let her arm go, “Please put the rest of the stuff away. When we finish with Ben’s bath, you need to take a shower, please.”

He didn’t wait for a response before lifting me to his hip and carrying me up the stairs. Once we were safely ensconced in the bathroom, he started the taps and helped me undress, settling me in the warm water.

Uncle Matt was being quiet, and I wasn’t sure if he was mad at me, or if he was just thinking, or if he was upset that Emily didn’t act respectful enough.

Usually, apologizing worked. Even if I didn’t understand what I’d done wrong, it sometimes made Daddy not mad anymore. I figured it was worth a shot.

“‘m sorry I embarrassed you earlier,” I told him quietly.

“What, honey?” he asked, tipping my chin up with his fingers.

“I embarrassed you,” I repeated. “When I asked about the cookies? I didn’t mean to. I thought that I should ask because then I would know how you want me to be good. But Em’ly said I embarrassed you. I didn’t mean it.”

“Oh, Ben,” he sighed, smiling at me, “you don’t need to apologize about that. You were right. I do need to use manners too. I’m sorry for being confusing.”

Matt’s POV

Ben looked at me, face guileless as he explained, “Em’ly said that you’re going to be strict for a little bit, and it’s not a big deal.”

“Oh she did, did she?” I asked, unable to hide my grin. “Tip your head, sweetpea,” I instructed, carefully wetting down his hair and beginning to shampoo. “Miss Em’s been pretty chatty.”

He nodded, eyes closed, “She ‘splained.”

“Well, Em does that,” I allowed. 

“She’s good at ‘splaining stuff.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, carefully shampooing his hair. “Keep your eyes shut, sweetheart. Time to rinse.”

That task accomplished, I slicked conditioner through his hair and gently began scrubbing behind his ears.

“You are always allowed to ask me questions, Ben. You don’t worry about embarrassing me. If you want to wait until it’s just us having before bed talks, that’s fine, but I want you to understand things.”

“‘k,” he whispered, avoiding eye contact. 

I rinsed his hair once more, getting his ears clean as well, before I handed him the washcloth and soap.

“Your turn, peanut,” I told him, sitting back.

Ben slowly soaped up the washcloth, cleaning himself thoroughly before he rinsed it off and hung it, folded, over the faucet. He didn’t say a single word while he bathed.

“We need to get you bath toys,” I suggested. “I bet you’d like bath crayons.”

He shook his head, “I norm’ly shower.”

I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to say, but Sarah had been pretty certain that I knew what I was doing, so I went with the first thing that popped into my head. 

“Too bad,” I smiled at him briefly, grabbing a towel. “I think I’m going to miss this.”

“You are?” Ben was back to avoiding eye contact, and I didn’t force it as I helped him to stand up and step out of the tub.

I nodded, “Yeah. It’s fun to do this part of daddying sometimes. This, and the bottles at night...Em doesn’t like it.”

“Why don’t you just make her?” he asked. “You’re the daddy; you can do that.”

I finished towelling him off, wrapping him tightly in a second, dry, towel, before I stood up and lifted him onto a hip.

“Being the daddy doesn’t mean that I get to make Emily do something just because I like it,” I replied evenly. “First of all, I’m pretty sure nobody can make Emily do anything.”

“Damn straight,” a voice piped from the bed, where my wife was laying, on her back, legs against the wall.

“Mouth, Emily Anne,” I corrected, continuing, “When I make rules, it’s because I think I’m doing what’s best for Emily. And for you. It would be wrong for me to force you two to do something just because I wanted it.”

“But that’s why you’re the daddy,” Ben told me innocently. “It means you get your way.”

“No, honey,” I explained gently. “It means I take care of you and Emily.”

“I know,” Ben rested his head on my shoulder. “You’re doing an ex’llent job,” he reassured. “But that’s the work part. You get to have what you want because you’re the grown up. It makes up for having to take care of us.”

“God, Ben, you need remedial brat training,” Emily snorted, from the bed.

I felt like we’d actually been getting somewhere. Ben was still confused, but he was speaking relatively openly about the way he understood things. When Emily made her latest joke, he blushed brightly, hiding his face against me.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Sorry sorry sorry.”

“Shhhhhh,” I soothed, rocking slowly and patting his back. “You don’t need to be sorry. You are behaving so well for me, Ben. You’re such a good boy.”

“I don’t know anything,” he replied, and I could hear the tears in his voice.

“That’s not your fault,” I told him. “You can’t help not knowing things.”

Emily had sat up, watching us, and she had a peculiar expression on her face. Part shame, clearly embarrassed and upset about having upset Ben, but I could see just a hint of defiance as well.

Raising an eyebrow at her, I waited. It didn’t take long for her to decide that defiance was going to win out.

I could tell by the way she was looking at us both that she was about to let loose with something else, and I held up my hand.

“Stop,” I ordered firmly. “You need to take your shower, and then I want you in your pajamas, please.”

“I don’t need my pajamas,” she argued.

“Do you need help?” I asked pleasantly. “I’m sure that Ben could entertain himself for a little bit if you need my assistance.”

Ben had shifted slightly, peeking at Emily, and I tried to ignore it as I focused on my wife. She was still sitting on the bed, not moving, and I waited, hoping she’d choose to behave on her own.

She didn’t, crossing her arms and raising her chin defiantly, she waited, certain that my hands were full with Ben.

“I think,” I started conversationally, setting Ben on his feet, “that someone is getting a little big for her britches.”

Walking to the bed, I took her arm and helped her stand up. It wasn’t until I didn’t let go that she started to backpedal.

“I should go take a shower,” she tried.

I shook my head, “I gave you a chance to do it without help,” I reminded her. “You decided to brat for me instead, and I don’t appreciate it.”

Sitting on the bed, I looked straight in her eyes, “That’s not okay, Emily Anne, and you absolutely know that. These are not new rules.”

“I’ll just-” she tried to pull away.

Shaking my head, I helped her across my lap, “You’ll just get a little spanking to adjust that bad attitude.”

“Daddy! Ben’s in here!” she objected.

“Which is why you’re keeping your pants and your panties on,” I informed her. “However, since you were so hell-bent on Ben seeing you misbehave, you can just deal with him seeing the consequences.”

She wiggled a little, but I held her firmly. When I didn’t hear a safeword, I raised my hand up and brought it down on her backside.

Sarah had cleared Emily for punishment two days ago, telling me that she was still a little bruised, but she didn’t appear tender anymore. Nonetheless, I cupped my hand, making the spanking sound quite a bit worse than it actually was.

“No! Daddy!” she argued.

Ben was watching, eyes wide, but he seemed okay, so I continued, paddling firmly for just long enough to get Em almost to the point of tears. Then, I abruptly put her on her feet.

“Watch the mouth,” I lectured, shaking a finger at her. “You’ve been warned several times tonight, and I’ve hit the end of my patience, Miss Emily Anne.”

“You said you couldn’t spank me,” she said, glaring at me and rubbing her backside furiously.

“Well, I didn’t particularly want to, but if you won’t behave from a time out...”

“No!” she argued. “This morning! You said that you couldn’t spank me yet!”

I nodded, “I said I couldn’t spank you. We didn’t have time. However, since you’ve decided to keep misbehaving, I’m making time.”

“That’s not fair!”

“It can be less fair if you’d like?” I offered.

She instantly backed up several feet, shaking her head, “No! I’m going to take my shower.”

I nodded, “Good choice, Em. Thank you.”

Emily was clearly angry at me, as she stalked off to the bathroom, but I ignored it, instead going to pick up Ben.

“Let’s get you into some jammies, peanut,” I narrated. “Poor little boy! You’re shivering like a leaf!”

“You spanked Em’ly,” he whispered, voice awed. “I didn’t-you didn’t never do that before.”

That made me smile, “I did,” I corrected. “Not around you, but that wasn’t Emily’s first spanking, and if I know anything at all about my wife, it will definitely not be her last.”

“In front of me,” he continued.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “She was being naughty in front of you though, and she was aiming a lot of that right at you.”

He didn’t say anything to that, allowing me to help him into a pair of Michael’s pajamas, “Last night, peanut. Tomorrow, you’ll have clean clothes.”

“Em’ly put ‘em in the washer,” he whispered.

I nodded, “Yeah, she likes doing the laundry.”

“I can help too,” he told me, looking up. “I don’t know how to cook so good, but ‘m a good cleaner. That was my job ‘cause Daddy worked for real.”

I wanted to wave it off, but if Ben was here, then he should help out. It would make him feel like part of the family. 

“Hmmm,” I thought, picking him back up. “Can you dust?”

He nodded seriously, and I hugged him, walking back down the stairs, “Uh huh. I can dust. And I ironed Daddy’s shirts. An’ washed dishes,” he yawned, resting his head on my shoulder.

“Poor, tired, boy,” I murmured, stopping at the couch and letting him down. “How do you feel about watching a movie?”

He nodded, and I gestured over to the TV, “DVDs are in the case in that drawer. Pick something out.”

“What do you want to watch?” he asked.

“I don’t care,” I patiently explained. “All I care about is that we curl up and watch a movie together. It helps to relax Em.”

“Okay,” he agreed, going over and beginning to flip through the massive collection.

“I’m going to get drinks. Would you like juice or hot chocolate?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m going to make myself hot chocolate,” I told him.

He nodded, not looking at me, “Daddy didn’t let me have drinks in the livin’ room. ‘cause I spilled once.”

“Maybe we should use a bottle, just in case,” I suggested, guessing at what he was getting at.

“Yes thank you.”

We could work on him being direct about what he wanted later. For now, I’d settle for what I was getting.

“I’ll be back in a minute, sweetheart,” I told him, walking off to the kitchen and starting the milk.

Emily joined me a few minutes later, dressed in a tee shirt and pajama bottoms, hair still wet from the shower. Grabbing her arm, I pulled her in for a hug.

“Love you, Em,” I murmured. 

“Even if I’m a bitch?” she asked, voice low.

I shook my head, landing a swat, “Not okay, Emily Anne. You know better. Try again for me please.”

Chin trembling, she avoided my eyes as she said, “Even if I was being mean to Ben and sassy to you?”

“You could never do anything bad enough that I would stop loving you,” I gently stated. It had been a while since she needed me to say it. “Never ever, Em.”

“Promise?”

“I promise,” I agreed.

“Ben’s good,” she told me, pressing her face against me.

“Ben is very well behaved right now,” I nodded. “And you are still my baby. I like mouthy little girls who wear jeans with holes in the knees and can’t walk past a sale. That’s why I married you.”

“‘k.”

“Em, if having Ben here is too-”

“I love Ben,” she interrupted, pulling away enough to look up at me, shaking her head. “He’s my Ben! He’s nice! And I love him, Daddy. Really.”

“Alright. I was just checking,” I soothed.

She refused to be pulled back into a hug, giving me a look, “I love Ben,” she repeated.

“You can love him and still not want him to live here,” I gently reminded.

“Nope. I love Ben. He’s got his own room here because he’s family,” she said, very firm. 

“Baby-”

“Yellow,” she insisted, pulling further away and putting her hands on her hips. “Yellow, and that means you have to listen because you’re Matt and I’m Emily, and we’re married.”

Emily took that very seriously. She’d only said it a handful of times, in all of our years together, and it was always about something she took seriously. 

“I’m Matt,” I agreed, not trying to hug her. “I hear you.”

“I love Ben, and I want him here,” she said firmly. “I’m not little right now. I understand the implications of having him here, and I’m okay.”

“You didn’t seem okay,” I gently pointed out.

She shook her head, “I was checking. I’m allowed to do that.”

“Okay, Em.”

“Okay?”

I nodded, “I said okay.”

“Green,” she mumbled, moving forward into my arms. We stood like that until the milk was ready, neither of us speaking.


End file.
